


The Sheep Will Come to Slaughter

by vigilgothic



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Biohazard | Resident Evil References, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Game: Resident Evil 7, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Post-Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil 7 Spoilers, Sewer Gators - Freeform, Slow Burn, re7
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:54:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29794977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vigilgothic/pseuds/vigilgothic
Summary: Clancy Jarvis, an experienced cameraman, is instructed to film the property that has been abandoned in Dulvey, Louisiana. As him and his colleagues progress within the home, things start to turn sour and, in simple terms, they're all fucked. After Clancy falls into this predicament, all hope is practically thrown out the window when he's held hostage by the Baker's son, Lucas, or so he thinks.
Relationships: Lucas Baker/Clancy Jarvis
Comments: 10
Kudos: 6





	1. The Sheep Will Come to Slaughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clancy Jarvis, an experienced cameraman, is instructed to film the property that has been abandoned in Dulvey, Louisiana. As him and his colleagues progress within the home, things start to turn sour and, in simple terms, they're all fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So... I've noticed that there aren't many Clancy Jarvis and Lucas Baker fics, and most of them are smut-based (which I don't read nor write). Thus, I am here to provide one that's more angst driven (since that's sorta my specialty).  
> For this first chapter, I just wanted to get the foundation of the story started. Yes, this is based on the first interactive vhs tape in the game, and it's pretty straightforward. Don't worry, next chapter will have a lot more creative ideas and I will be able to put my own spin on things!

Dulvey, Louisiana. That was the general location. On Thursday, June 1st, that was where they sought out to go. Although he'd only recently been hired by Sewer Gators, which consisted of two other male colleagues, Clancy was in charge of filming the scenery around them. Once they arrived, it became clear that one of his fellow collogues was wary of him almost immediately.

"I don't know about this one," he mumbled to the other. Well, he tried to, but Clancy could hear him from a few yards away despite his efforts.

"Again?" the other asked. If Clancy got it right, the bitchy one was named Peter and the other male was Andre, but he wasn't willing to bet on that.

"Jarvis, come on," Peter instructed with the wave of his hand, "time's wasting."

As the three walked towards the door, the floor boards creaked and crackled with every step. The boards were rotted and weather down, but he didn't exactly expect the porch to be any other way. As the other two talked about this facility and how it was abandoned, Clancy lingered behind and took note on the light that was by the door. He watched as the moths practically danced around the bulb and he nudged the camera towards it. If this place was abandoned, then why were the lights on? Of course, Clancy practically got snapped out of his train of thought when Andre kicked the door open.

Once the other two went inside, Clancy followed behind them and kept his hand on the camera. As soon as he stepped in, his nose scrunched up and his upper lip lifted as he tried to choke down the air that he was breathing in. Since they were by the bayou, the smell of sewage and swamp water lingered with every breath, but this was different. When he came in , he practically got slapped in the face with something putrid. Besides the natural smells that came with the place, he couldn't help but take note that it smelled like a mixture between mold and, for lack of a better term, something dead, like an animal. Maybe an animal died in here since it was supposedly abandoned. Maybe they would walk in and come across a rotting animal corpse. As a cameraman with five or six years of experience prior to now, this wouldn't be the first time that he recorded or came across something like that.

As they drew further into the house and as they trudged down the hallway, his grip tightened. His shoulders tensed up a bit, as if he were expecting to get startled or jump scared by something. With every step, the smell of dead animal grew more potent. He would have brought it up, but the other two didn't seem phased by the smells. Thus, he just kept his eyes glued to the camera and kept his mouth shut. When they finally reached the end of the hallway, it could be assumed that this was a kitchen. Clancy noticed the newspapers and utensils scattered on the table top, he saw the rusted appliances, the fridge that was cracked open, and saw the moldy and rust-stained sink. As he got closer to the table, he noticed the dates and titles on the newspapers. They varied between October 2014 to early May of 2017, which was roughly a month ago. He went to speak, but let out a cough. At this point, he was practically choking down every gasp of air because the smell was downright putrid.

"Don't get sick in here, that's the last thing we need," Andre admitted as he inspected the doorway that was on the other side of the room.

"Yeah, we don't need the smell of mold and shit with with your stomach acid," Peter mumbled.

Clancy, after catching his breath, walked over towards a pot on the table and put the collar of his shirt up over his nose. Peter saw this and told him to take a look at whatever was in that pot in front of him. Of course, since Clancy was the new hire, he was practically obligated to do as he was told to. Besides, he was the cameraman and he was supposed to be documenting everything that they found here. He hesitated a bit, but after he mustered enough courage, he pulled the lid away and gagged. He finally found where the rancid smell was coming from. He couldn't tell what the hell it was, whether it was an animal or a person, but it was clearly dead. Of course, Peter wasn't phased by this. Instead, he found a painting and called out to Andre, who didn't respond.

"Where the fuck- Clancy," Peter said, which forced the cameraman to look over at him to see what he needed.

"Come on, I don't want to lose you too. We already lost our producer and I don't want to risk losing our only good cameraman too." When Peter said, it sounded strained, as if it pained him to call Clancy good. He took note of this, of course, but didn't say anything about it.

Clancy simply followed behind him with his camera in hand. As Peter walked around and continued to call out for their other colleague, Clancy looked at some of the pictures and items that they were walking past. For instance, there were more newspapers, polaroid's, books on shelves, some jars of paint, and various other things. Once they stumbled into one of the few remaining rooms, Clancy could only assume that this was some sort of living or family room. He noticed the brick fire place, a small television in the back corner on a table, a brown leather couch that was ripped and torn from use, a vhs player, a bookshelf, and a photo. This was mounted and framed just above the fire place. Clancy could only assume that this was a portrait of the family that supposedly lived here beforehand, but he wouldn't bet on that. He noticed the two parental figures and the two children that were in the photo with them. Before he could get lost with his train of thought again, Peter pulled on a metal handle within the fireplace and there was a cracking noise. When they turned around, they found the hidden passage that was embedded into the wall. Clever.

The two crawled in and when the light was directed towards the end of this room, there was a hole in the floor with a wooden ladder propped up against it. Peter walked over and noticed that the hole was so deep that he couldn't see where it led to. He couldn't see the end of the ladder and when he noticed this, he practically demanded that Clancy should go down first.

"Yeah, you go down so you can get a good shot of me coming down," he said.

Clancy sighed in defeat then walked over before he started to ease his way down the ladder. It creaked and crackled with every step and grab, but he kept going. By the time he got to the bottom, he looked up at Peter and took a few steps back so he had room.

"Well? What do you see?" he asked.

"Aren't you coming down?" Clancy asked, "for that 'good shot' of you?"

"Just tell me what you see down there," Peter said, practically discarding the question that his colleague asked. With that, Clancy practically groaned in frustration before he started to observe the crevices of the room.

The rest of the house was mainly made out of wood and plaster, but this was stone. He felt the jagged rocks with his hands and noticed that they felt a little damp. He could assume that it was so musky and gross down here that this was where the smell of mold came from. As he observed the place, he practically froze in his tracks when he saw Andre facing the wall. "Well?" Peter called down again, which made his voice echo throughout the cavern. "Well, um," Clancy started as he crept up towards Andre, who still hadn't moved a lick since he caught sight of him. When Clancy got there, he put a hand on Andre's shoulder and gently tugged. Maybe he zoned out like Clancy did. Maybe he was so out of it that he practically needed dragged off his train of thought. However, when Andre smacked against him and forced them both to hit the ground, the camera hit the ground and practically highlighted the blood that was oozing off of the others face. Clancy just laid there in mere horror. He was too scared to move, he couldn't muster enough courage to talk or even scream, his heart was racing so fast that he could practically hear it ringing in his ears, and he just laid there.

After a bit, he finally heard foot steps drawling closer. Finally, Peter was coming down to help them. Well, he thought this, but he was so wrong. When he finally saw what came to their aid, his heart practically dropped. The male from the picture above the mantle. Well, an older version of it, but he could tell that this was him. Clancy went to speak, but nothing came out. He wanted to apologize for trespassing. He wanted to ask for help. He wanted to go home. He wanted to say _anything_ , but nothing came out. He looked up at the male and held his breath as he saw a devilish grin spread across his face, as if he were pleased to see that his trap drew in another victim. Once Clancy saw that the male's arm was moving and withheld a shovel-like weapon, he practically threw his head back and forced his eyelids to close so he didn't have to see anything.

This was the last thing he remembered.


	2. City Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clancy wakes up in a place that he can barely make out. He doesn't know what's in store for him, but he knows it can't be good. After he meets Lucas, he starts to realize why he's left alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally couldn't wait to write another part to this, so here we are!

Clancy could have slept a while longer, but he woke up to a pounding headache and a light above his head. When he opened his eyes, he immediately closed them again with a groan before he rolled onto his stomach. He peeked his eyes open a bit once the light was behind him, but he couldn't focus on much because he could still see the silhouette of the bulb wherever he looked. It would flicker between green, blue, violet, and hot pink. Clancy shifted onto his elbows then pushed himself up with his hands, which allowed him to sit on his knees.

Once he was propped up, he finally got to look around. He didn't know where he was, but based on the stiffened cot in the corner, the metal bars that laced itself into a door, and the lack of real furnishings, he could only assume that he was in some sort of cell. It didn't exactly take a genius to figure that out. Clancy was an observer. This was just a fact. As he sat there, he noticed that it was practically dead silent. He couldn't see where it was coming from, but he could hear water droplets hitting something, most likely something metal as well. It would hit with a faint _ping_ and would echo towards him. Clancy noticed that it didn't reek of dead animal, which was nice, but the smell of musk and sewage lingered around.

Once he got up off the ground, he trudged towards the door. Clancy noticed that there was blood on his shirt, which was most likely Andre's. He noticed that the knees of his jeans were torn up and as was the skin that was exposed with these rips. He unconsciously felt in his back pockets, expecting to feel for one of the few items that he usually carried with him, but there was nothing. When he arrived, he had his wallet. He didn't bring his phone because there wasn't any kind of service. He lost access to the internet about twenty minutes out from here and wasn't going to get any by the bayou, which was why he left it in the van. His phone didn't matter though, because he knew where that was. He just wanted to know where his wallet was. The only valuable thing inside would be his ID, but God only knew what somebody would do with that information, especially out here.

Since it was dead silent, he was scared to call out for anybody. Maybe nobody was around because they didn't want to wait around here. Maybe they wanted to wait until he was awake, and somebody would come once he talked. Maybe Peter ran to go find help, or maybe he was somewhere near and could hear him. All of these possibilities made Clancy both anxious and nervous because he wasn't if any was correct. After he contemplated about this for a while, he walked over towards the door and rattled the bars to see if it would budge, but it stayed stationary despite his efforts. However, when he shook the door, the chain that kept the door closed rattled and echoed throughout the hall. When he heard the echo, Clancy tried to see what was down either side of the hallway, but there wasn't much. There was a table, some newspapers, some photos, and corkboard with photos hung upon them. He looked at the images and tried to identify any of them, but there wasn't much to look at.

Clancy zoned out as the stared at the images. His hands kept their hold on the door but once he heard a noise coming from down the hallway, he practically threw his hands back and stepped away. As the foot steps grew louder and drew closer, he snuck back onto the cot and just sat there.

"Clancy, who names their kid that willingly?" a voice asked down the hall, as if they were talking to themselves. Once the noise stopped, Clancy looked over at the door, but didn't see who it was yet. He heard rustling of paper before he got up and quietly walked over. He saw a male with a few pieces of paper in front of him. When he saw him, he noticed that he wasn't the same male from earlier. Clancy saw that the male in front of him looked lankier. He looked kind of skittish, but what did he know?

When this other male finally turned around, Clancy tensed up a bit because he didn't know what to expect. The other male looked at something in his hand then he looked back at the other male that was held behind the door. 

"I was expecting you to have less greys than my dad," Lucas admitted with a taunting grin spread across his lips. "I mean, you are 35."

At least Clancy knew where his wallet went now.

"I started to grey early," Clancy said, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah, I can tell," he admitted. "Anyways, you're from Cincinnati, city boy?"

"It's Clancy, not 'city boy'," he practically hissed.

"And you came all the way to Dulvey just to see us? Awh, that's sweet, city boy!" 

Clancy rolled his eyes at that then walked back over to the cot. It was in the corner that was farthest from the door and that's why he went there.

"Where is my camera?" Clancy finally asked.

"None of your business," the other said.

"It actually is," Clancy flat out said. "It's my property."

"And as far as I'm concerned, you and all your stuff is _my_ property, so shut your face before I shut it for you."

With that. Clancy slumped back and watched as the other male walked back over to the table. Clancy watched as he started to hang up some more images, and these ones forced Clancy's heart to practically drop. There were five images. One was of Andre and his bloodied face, two were side profiles of himself, and the others were of Peter. This practically told Clancy that Peter didn't make it out. It also said that the little bit of hope that he had was practically zero.

"Can I at least know your name since you know mine?" Clancy finally asked.

"Lucas," he said, "but you don't need to know that," he added.

After Lucas was done putting the images up, he grabbed some hand cuffs from his back pocket along with a key. Once Clancy saw him drawling closer, he tensed up and tried to piece together what he was going to do.

"I'm going to open the door and put these on you," Lucas said. "If you try to run or you try to fight with me, I won't hesitate to take that pretty little head of yours and bounce it off the ground, got it?" he asked before he looked over at Clancy. He already unlocked the door and undid the chain that was keeping it shut, but he wouldn't come in unless the other male agreed. In response, Clancy merely nodded and just sat there as Lucas came in, leaving the door open behind him.

Clancy looked at it and nervously bit his bottom lip before he met the other. Lucas practically threw Clancy off the cot by the shirt then pulled his hands back before he latched the cuffs around Clancy's hands. Afterwards, Lucas kept a hold of his shoulder and started to lead him out the door, which forced Clancy's nose to scrunch before he looked over at the other male.

"Where are we going?" Clancy asked as he was led out into the hallway.

"Well, your friend Peter ran off and we can't find him-" Lucas started.

"So I'm bait so you can get him back?.." Clancy figured while Lucas was in the middle of talking. When he met Lucas's eyes again, he was smirking, as if he were impressed.

"Ah, a smart one," Lucas said. "Yeah, but don't think of it as bait. Just think of this as a fun little game. You like games, now don't you?"

"I- I guess," Clancy said. He didn't know why, but the way that Lucas emphasized the word 'games' threw him off. He didn't know how to answer, but at this point, he was just trying not to piss him off.

"That's what I thought," Lucas admitted, "and who knows, maybe we can play some more lil games when we're done with this one, city boy," Lucas said with a grin as he continued to lead the other down the hallway.


	3. In Touch with a Bad Seed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to note that this chapter isn't going to be all that fun to read, at least I don't think so. You know how there are certain chapters that need to be put in to keep stories going but they're so boring? That's what this one is. The intention is that this simply keeps the story going. That way when I come back and write more, I'll have another fun one to read! This is also going to be insanely short because, ya know.  
> **Also, I don't think I said this before, but not everything is going to be canon because- yeah. If it were canon, last chapter wouldn't exist, but it does now because it makes sense.

After a while, they finally reached their destination. They walked up a flight of steps and Lucas eventually led him through a door. As they walked, Clancy recognized the family room that he went through when him and Peter were looking for Andre. Lucas continued to lead him up the steps and brought him to a chair that was propped up against a desk in the corner. Clancy watched as he pulled the chair out and set everything up.

"Get over here," Lucas practically ordered. Of course, Clancy walked over then sat down where he was supposed to.

"Jesus, how tall are you?" Lucas asked as he pushed the other male's ankles against the legs of the chair.

"Didn't you see that on my ID?" Clancy asked, which earned him a glare from his captor. When he saw his face, he finally answered the question to make sure that he wasn't going to get bonked with whatever Lucas brought up here to capture Peter. "I'm over six foot," he said.

"I can tell," Lucas admitted as he straddled Clancy's legs.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because your fucking legs are so-weird," Lucas admitted.

"Why?"

"Because they're so fucking long, like abnormally long," he admitted, which forced a shrug out of Clancy.

"I mean, I guess I'm an abnormally long person," Clancy admitted.

"You're telling me," Lucas mumbled before he stepped back and observed him. He looked at the straps that withheld him then smiled to himself.

"Perfect," Lucas started, "Now, you just sit there and look pretty," he said before he walked over towards he desk. Clancy didn't look over at him because, quite frankly, he didn't want to. This whole situation was just weird. He knew that Peter didn't like him, not in the slightest, so why would he risk his life to come help him? With his luck, Peter already left without him. With his luck, Peter left and had no intention on getting help. There was no way in hell that he would-

When he snapped back into reality, Peter was there with his hands on his arms, as if he was shaking him back into reality.

"Jarvis, you got to stop zoning out that hard," Peter admitted as he got down on his knees and started to tug at the straps that bounded his colleagues ankles. Clancy made a face then looked over at the corner where Lucas was last, but he wasn't there. This forced Clancy's head to turn a bit before Peter spoke back up again.

"We got to get the hell out of here," he admitted. Clancy simply nodded then tried to break loose. Maybe they could get out of here. Maybe they could leave in one piece. Maybe, just maybe, at least one of them would be able to get the fuck out of here. Maybe there was hope after all.

Well, there was, until he saw this- this _thing_ come up the steps. It looked like the thing from _The Ring_ and he watched as it trudged up the steps. He looked back down at Peter, who was still trying to help him, and he could tell that he hadn't seen it yet. Clancy tried to warn him. He tried to talk, scream, yell, _anything_ , but nothing he came out. He couldn't help him.

Before he could say anything, the thing threw a kitchen knife up over her head before she planted it right in between his shoulder blades. Clancy swore that he heard bone crunching and shifting before Peter screamed in pain. Once the sound pierced his ears, Clancy shielded his eyes from the horror by closing his eyes. He steered his face away and luckily for him, he looked away just in time. When his head was turned, he felt something smack against his face. It was wet, warm, and felt thick on his face. After waiting it out, he eventually felt somebody grab at his arm.

When he felt this, he immediately jumped, but opened his eyes to see Lucas in front of him again. He looked down at Peter with a grin then looked over at Clancy.

"You just made my day a hell of a lot easier, my friend," Lucas admitted with a grin before he helped Clancy back up onto his feet. The taller male just stood there and was still unable to talk. He looked around then once he caught sight of his colleague, he closed his eyes once again and sighed shakily. Lucas saw his reaction then he took his fingertips and wiped something off Clancy's face. When Lucas showed him his hand, his fingertips were speckled and smudged with a red liquid.

"You saving this for later?" Lucas asked before he wiped his hand on Clancy's shirt, which forced the other to make an uncomfortable little whine. Lucas grinned at this then started to walk the other male back to where he was withheld earlier. The whole way there, Clancy didn't say a word. He kept his head hung low and he was just accepting his fate. He figured that he wasn't going anywhere. He wanted to ask for some kind of answer, but at the same time, he couldn't pull himself to do it. When Lucas undid the restraint's on his hands, he noticed that the other male seemed pretty defeated.

"Oh don't be like that, city boy," Lucas said as he walked towards the door again, "just be grateful that she didn't come after you."

"Who's 'she'?"

"That was Mia. Just be glad that she didn't stab you instead," Lucas said as he locked the cell door back up. Clancy thought for a minute then looked back at the other male.

"You knew that she was going to do that to him, didn't you?.." he asked. Of course, Lucas's crooked grin confirmed his suspicion, which forced another sigh out of Clancy.

"Don't think about it too much, city boy. Try to keep yourself occupied in the meantime," Lucas said before he walked off.

"In the meantime?.." Clancy asked, "am I supposed to be waiting on something?"

"Oh you'll see," Lucas admitted. Although Clancy couldn't see his face, he could hear the devilish grin creeping across his face when he talked, which wasn't going to be a good thing if Clancy knew anything about this place.


	4. Don't Fear the Reaper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This literally took two hours to write... I know this is going rather slow, but I'd rather it go slow and steady than rush it. I hope y'all can understand and allow me to do that.

If Clancy had his phone, he would have had something to do. He tried to get some sleep since he had the time to do so, but every time he closed his eyes, he would see it all. He would see Andre toppled on top of him. He would see his lifeless body and watch as the blood trickled down his face like wet paint on a canvas. If he wasn't thinking about this incident, he would think about Peter's lifeless corpse that just laid motionless on the ground. He thought about the scream he tried to muster from his lungs, but he didn't make a sound. If there was one regret that he had since he got there, it was that he didn't tell Peter to run. Not from Mia, but from the house itself. Clancy almost felt guilty that Peter died trying to help him, but there wasn't much he could do about it, especially not now. 

He shifted onto his side as he laid on the musky and stiffened cot. He moved so his back was facing towards the door and he stared at a stain upon the sheet. It wasn't much of a sheet, but for lack of a better term, that's what it reminded him of. It was as thin as tissue paper and as dirty as a pair of work boots, but it was the only thing that protected him from the cot itself. Clancy felt stiff as he felt his skin practically smoosh rather than sink into the damned thing. It wasn't much of a cot at all, but it was far from a bed. It was more like a table with a pathetic little sheet over it, but it beat laying on the ground. God only knew what diseases and shit lingered on the walls and such.

As Clancy rested his head on his arm, he trailed his other hand up towards his face. He looked at his watch then sighed shakily before he zoned out. The constant and repetitive ticking lulled him back into his own head as he breathed steadily. For a moment, it seemed like he was put of this hell hole. For a moment, he thought about what he'd be doing right now if he wasn't here. He'd probably be home. He'd most likely be in his dank little apartment with his dogs. Right now, since it was roughly four in the evening, he would probably be on the shabby little tartan couch. He'd notice the numerous stains, he'd probably be drinking some pop (which was what he grew up calling it), he'd probably be watching _Return of the Living Dead_ for the millionth time with his pets, and he'd probably be eating some leftover pizza from a few days beforehand.

Clancy was eventually lulled to a light sleep because of his watch, but this didn't last long before he woke up with a jump. His smoky-grey eyes trailed over to the door and he saw the other male once more. Lucas had his hood up over his head and he just stood there, merely staring at the other male. Of course, since Clancy was both puzzled and uncomfortable, he sat up a bit then leaned back against the stones that confined him. He waited for the other to speak, but he got nothing.

"Umm.." he started awkwardly as he adjusted his cap on his head, "can I help you?"

"What?" Lucas started, realizing that he'd been staring for quite a while. "Oh yeah, I just wanted to come down and give you a heads up."

"About?.." Clancy asked.

"Later. The old man was talking about you proving yourself," Lucas admitted, which forced Clancy's nose to crinkle and his lips to scrunch.

"Prove myself?.. For what?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, city boy," Lucas said with another smug little grin. "It'll be later, much later, so rest up while you can. I'm sure you'll be up all damn night dealing with it," he added before he walked off without saying anything else.

Once he started to walk off, Clancy practically forced himself off the damn cot, but he grunted in pain as his body ached. His limbs were sore from laying in the same position as he slept and his knees practically buckled as he forced himself to stand up. He didn't realize his foot was asleep until he was practically dragging it behind him. With every step, his foot felt like a fuzzy television screen. He could practically feel the static pulsating through his leg with every step and by the time he got to the door, it was back to normal. Clancy went to see if Lucas was gone, and to his luck, he couldn't see nor hear him. Thus, he wrapped his fingers around the bars before he jiggled the door one more time. Of course, like last time, it wouldn't budge.

"Fuck..." was all Clancy mumbled before he relaxed his hands. He looked down at his watch to see how long he was out for, and to his dismay, it was only three hours. There was no windows so there was no way to tell if it was night or day, but seeing how Lucas was, he assumed that night had finally fell upon them. Fucking finally. Clancy lingered by the door for a while and would occasionally pull on the bars that forbid him from leaving. He scanned the area outside the door and he practically froze when he saw that Lucas left the bolt cutters right by the door. Man, what a fucking idiot. With little to no hesitation, he practically snatched them then brought them inside the cell. Once he got a good grip of them, he forced them to clip down on the chain. The sound of the metal snapping made a smile creep across Clancy's face. It wasn't much, but it was enough hope to make him feel alive again. Since he came back into the cell, he started to feel numb. He felt ran down, mentally exhausted, hopeless, and just downright miserable. Now, he got to feel a little more lively.

After he quietly unwrapped the chain and set everything down, he quietly pushed the door open before he stepped out. In the back of his mind, Clancy knew this was wrong. He knew that he was risking his life to try to escape, but he'd rather die trying than die to willing and intentional mutilation. As far as Clancy was concerned, this was his chance to leave.

___

As he wandered down the hallways, he kept his hands to himself and quietly tried to find his way back to the steps that Lucas brought him to earlier. Clancy was pretty determined to find his way up the steps and find that door past the kitchen. He wanted to get the fuck out of there, even if it was the last thing he'd do. His eyes trailed down the hallway and once he saw that the coast was clear, Clancy stepped out from behind the door. However, mid-step, he felt a hand grasp hold of his shirt then practically throw him backwards. When Clancy looked up, he saw the man that knocked him out the first time. He saw the devilish grin on his face and noticed the bewildered and deranged look in his eyes, but he didn't say a word. Just based on his face, Clancy could tell that he was in a world of shit.

"Oh, what's the matter son? Such a timid stock, and what a shame that I caught you," the older male said before he practically started to drag the other male. Clancy could hear his heartbeat in his ears as he choked for air. The older male, Jack, had Clancy by the shirt collar and was practically dragging him down the hallway. After he realized what was happening, Clancy tried to pry his hand off his shirt, but this only made Jack trudge to the destination faster. He was pretty dead set on getting Clancy to a specific destination and there was no stopping until he did it.

What started out as an escape from the guest house slowly turned into an adventure to the main house. Despite Clancy's efforts, Jack's hand wouldn't release from his navy blue t-shirt. He continued to drag him like a damn suitcase until he brought him inside. Once they were in, Jack held on with two hands to ensure that Clancy wouldn't get any ideas. The cameraman looked at the homie yet semi-modernized interior, but he forced himself to snap out of it. As far as he knew, he was probably going to get dragged to a room and get his brains bashed in with a hammer.

"Listen," Clancy practically choked out, "I'm sorry, just please don't-" he started again before he got cut off by the other male.

"You should have stayed in that cell boy," he started, "and now you're gonna pay."

Of course, when Jack said this, Clancy tried to get out from the other's grasp, but that wasn't going to happen. Once he heard Jack stop in his tracks, Clancy observed that they were standing upon a flight of steps, which immediately forced his body to tense up. Jack didn't hesitate before he practically picked up the scrawny cameraman and grinned up at him. He held onto the sides of his arms and practically dug his fingertips into the others skin, which forced Clancy to practically tense into his grasp.

"Go on boy," the older male said with a grin, "since you want to venture off so damn bad. There's some friends I want you to meet."

That was the last thing Clancy heard before he felt himself practically get tossed down the steps. Once he felt himself start to tumble down the wooden steps, he practically held his breath and just let the darkness consume him as his eyelids shielded his smoky-grey eyes. 

\---

When Clancy woke up, he groaned in pain as he tried to hoist himself up off the floor. His limbs ached from his body smacking against every step on the way down. He tried to look around, but he was so out of it that he couldn't force himself to focus on anything. When he finally heard a monstrous and damn near heart stopping scream, the hairs on his body practically stood up and he practically forced his eyes to open. Clancy practically picked himself up off the floor and shifted onto his feet before he tried to process what was happening.

"You got to be fucking kidding me..."


	5. I Think I'm Okay

Once Clancy had a good footing, he walked around to find something, _anything_ to defend himself with. As he walked down one of the many narrow hallways, he couldn't help but feel vulnerable. As far as he knew, this family had no intention on letting him leave. As far as he knew, he was down here to die. Whatever was growling and screaming nearby was going to kill him if he didn't do something. Although he was sulking in numerous emotions, he couldn't deny that he felt pretty hopeless. He didn't have anything to defend himself with, he was scared, confused, achy, and hopped up on his own adrenaline. 

When Clancy stumbled across a compactor and observed it. He saw the dimmed red button and he observed it. He tilted his head a bit then grazed his fingertips over the button before he pushed his hand against it. After it revved slightly, he merely jumped when it started to rattle. When he saw the scrap pieces that were falling out, he scooped them up and brought them to a work bench nearby. He looked at it all then tried to piece things together as the unconscious rattling continued.

There was another monstrous shriek, but Clancy didn't seem phased as he stuffed some ammunition into the bag. He always kept a grey and denim-felt fanny pack around his hip. It was always slouched and rested on his side. He was genuinely surprised that nobody took this away from him, but he wasn't going to drawl attention to it. He was sure that if he did, they wouldn't hesitate to snatch it. When he opened it, he froze when he saw a green canister inside. He fished it out and when he pulled it to his face to read it, it was first aid. This was odd considering that he didn't have this in his bag before, but here it was, as if somebody put it in his bag incase he needed it. Nonetheless, Clancy put it back before he allowed the shotgun shells to fall into his pouch. Afterwards, he loaded four rounds into the gauge before zipping his bag back up. Once he was all set, he collect some more scrap pieces before he ventured off, hoping to find another compactor. To his luck, he did, but shortly after it started to produce scrap, the monstrous screech practically rattled his ear drums. When Clancy turned around, he saw a- a _thing_ there. It practically towered over him as it's teeth seemed to pierce through it's face. Clancy couldn't help but stare. However, once it slashed his face with its razor-like and molded claws, he snapped right back into reality. He pushed the barrel between it's eyes then pulled the trigger, which forced blood to splatter on the wall behind it. Clancy practically held his breath as he looked down at the body. there was no way it was human. Well, if it was, it was mutated. He kneeled down beside it and tried to observe it some more, but there wasn't much else to see. It looked like it was covered in smoked branched and tar, there were eye sockets but no actual eyes, it was rather tall, it's teeth resembled those of carnivores, and it's hands were like merely replicas of them. Clancy kind of poked at it with the end of his gun but once he heard another screech, he immediately arched the end of his shot gun up towards the empty hallway.

Clancy started to trudge back down the hallway to collect some more scrap before he got smacked in the back of the head by another one of those _things_. He smacked down onto his knees with his gun, but the weapon practically slid against the ground. He scurried over to get it and when he practically felt the thing lunge at him, he turned around and practically blew the monster off its feet. When it smacked onto its back with a thud, Clancy scrambled back onto his feet before he made his way over towards the compactor that he started out with. He made-do with his scrap and stayed pretty quiet as he whipped up some more ammunition. He trailed his eyes towards his watch and sighed when midnight struck. Maybe this was it. Lucas told him that he should have gotten some rest earlier because he was going to be put up to a test, but was this it? It had to be, right?

As the hours passed and the monsters grew in masses, as did the body count. His ammunition was depleting rather quickly and after a few good hits, he was noticed that he had a limp. Clancy noticed that his jeans had rips and his shirt continued to grow stains, and he noticed all the marks that traveled on his skin, such as numerous cuts, bruises, welts, and slashes. Luckily, he was already hopped up on so much adrenaline that he could barely feel a thing. He traced his fingertips over a gash that stretched across his cheek then let out a sigh. If he didn't tend to his wounds, he'd probably get some sort of infection. He pulled the first aid from his pack, but he just looked at it. He only had one and he didn't want to waste it. However, he didn't want to get any kind of infection or die from another blow. Thus, after a moment of pondering, he put the bottle back in his bag and went back to his scrap collecting.

After a few hours, 5 a.m. hit, and Clancy's body relaxed a bit. He allowed his limbs to hang and he forced his shotgun to lower before he sighed in relief. He could feel all the stress leave his body, as if somebody came in and ripped it right out of him within that moment. Clancy's adrenaline ran thin and his breathing slowed as he started to make his way back towards the door of the basement. As he trudged past all the molded corpses, he noticed that he was growing numb to the sight of dead bodies, whether this be monsters and colleagues. At this point, it was him against the world.

Once he walked to the door, he put his hand on the handle, but before he could grasp it, it cracked open. When Clancy trailed his eyes towards the crack in the door, he met Lucas's eyes then furrowed his brows. Lucas practically scanned up and down Clancy's body before meeting his eyes once more. He had the door cracked open so he could see him, but he wouldn't open it enough to let him through.

"Wow, you look like shit, city boy."

Of course, when Lucas said this, Clancy rolled his eyes before he pushed all his weight onto the leg that wasn't limping behind.

"Well you don't look so hot yourself," he said flat-out.

"Feisty, I like that," Lucas said with a smug little grin before he looked over at Clancy's pouch. "Why didn't you use that first aid?"

"Well I-" Clancy started then froze. "Wait, did you put that in there?"

"Yeah, because I figured that you'd pull some stupid stunt and get yourself hurt."

With that, Clancy just nodded. That sounded like a semi-believable reason. 

"Well, what the fuck do you want?"

"Clancy, language," he started, "there are children in the building, or were," Lucas admitted.

"Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that Evie likes you. We're all surprised you made it this far."

"Who the hell is Evie?.." Clancy asked. Oh great, another nut in the family.

"Language," Lucas reminded him, "and she's our little sister. She'll be yours too if you keep playing your cards right." he admitted.

"Mhm okay.." Clancy mumbled.

"I'm trying to help you. You seem like a smart guy, so why don't you tend to those nasty wounds and knock on the door when you're done?" Lucas asked with a smirk before he closed the door before Clancy could answer. The older male sighed then gently set himself down on the ground. He looked over at one of the molded bodies nearby then tended to his wounds quietly. After he slathered his limbs and face with first aid, he sat there for a minute and started to zone out on the door. He looked at the grooves on the board and he immediately thought about his apartment. He thought about the cherry oak coffee table that his mother handed down to him. He remembered when they got the damned thing. When he was seven, his mother really wanted cherry oak furniture because of it's red tint. She thought it was beautiful and thought it would look lovely in their living room. Back then, they had patterned wallpaper with green swirls and baby pink roses printed on them. The walls were a soft yellow, which Clancy hated back then, but grew to like over the years. He remembered when his mother saw the coffee table in the middle of the room on Mothers Day. He remembered the way she embraced both him and his father, showering them with "thank you's" and skin kisses. For Clancy, he got them on the head. For his father, they ranged between his cheeks and lips.

"Hey city boy," Lucas said as he opened the door. Clancy snapped out of it then tiredly gawked at him before Lucas spoke up again. "You done? You've been to quiet and took so long that I thought you died."

"No, I'm fine.." he mumbled tiredly before he stood back up.

"Well come on. We got places to go."

"Where?" Clancy asked as he pawed at his eyes with his fingertips.

"You'll see," Lucas admitted, "you look beat."

"Is it that obvious?"

"It's not hard to tell."

"You're just full of compliments, aren't you? Not only do I look like shit, but I also look beat." Clancy stated as he got to the door.

"Oh you know it," Lucas said before he opened the door wider. He grabbed Clancy by the arm so he didn't run off before he practically pulled him to the steps. Lucas closed the door behind them then started to bring him up the steps. They walked towards the living area once more and instead of taking Clancy to the basement again, he walked him up the steps. Clancy looked at everything through split eyelids as he limped along behind Lucas. The other male noticed that he was growing sluggish, but he didn't comment on it. Once they got a door, Lucas pushed it open before dragging the other male towards the bed. The lights were dimmed and the room smelled like musk, but other than this, it seemed pretty normal. Clancy could barely make out a lantern nearby, a desk, some pictures that hung on the walls, a few clocks, another door, and a dresser. He looked over at the bed then over at Lucas. He didn't ask, but his eyes practically screamed that he was exhausted and just wanted to lay down. Lucas noticed and after he thought about it, he practically tossed the other male onto it. He took Clancy's wrist and put a clamp over it, but Clancy didn't stir. He didn't even open his eyes to see what Lucas was doing. All he knew was that he was safer here than he was in the basement. He was also more comfortable here than he was in the cell. He could hear Lucas walking off, but he didn't do a thing. Clancy just felt his eyelids heavily resting over his eyes and felt his breathing slow down a bit. He parted his lips, as if he were to speak before Lucas left, but he let out a sigh in relief instead and fell into quiet slumber.


	6. A Little Bit Off

Clancy scrunched his nose as he inhaled the smell of musky linen. He went to rub his eyes, but grunted when one hand wouldn't move. When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed that his hand was practically bound down to a wooden table. Of course, since he didn't get a good look at everything earlier, he got to now. He forced himself to sit up a bit more before he noticed that this table wasn't going anywhere. He wiggled his wrist around, but the cuff wouldn't budge. Clancy eventually trailed his eyes from the table and noticed that it was being held up by a metal rod. It was attached to the bedframe and it clearly wasn't going anywhere. He noticed the blanket that was pulled up towards his waist and saw all the stains on the cloth. God only knew how long the covers went without being washed, but the smells and stains indicated that it had to have been at least a few years. Clancy noticed the dried blood on the covers, the muddy shoe prints that trailed all over the wooden planks, the dead insects against the wall, and the miscellaneous objects throughout the room. He remembered some of the objects, but they didn't seem very significant in any way.

As he tugged on his arm once more, he heard somebody drawling near. He could hear their shoes clicking against the hard wood all the way up the steps. He heard the clicks growing louder and louder before it stopped right outside the door (he only knew his because he couldn't see the light from under the crack of the door anymore). Clancy heard something outside the door, as if they were opening the door with a key. Once he heard a faint yet echoed _click_ , he practically sank back into the bed, as if he were attempting to hide from whomever was to come in. Once the door opened, a female put something in the pocket of her skirt before she grabbed a metal tray. She held it with both hands, but she managed to keep a hold of a lantern. Clancy saw the moths and various bugs circle the bulb, and he scrunched his nose when the elder woman didn't seem phased by them. He noticed her ratted hair and he knew that she was older, but she clearly had better genes than he did. She still maintained her brunette locks despite the scattered grey hairs, which he could just barely make out. This woman was hunkered over, as if she didn't have a great back, but he kept this comment to himself. When Clancy noticed the bowl, he sighed almost in relief. His stomach practically jumped with excitement because it'd been literal days since he last ate something. Last night, he was pretty sure that his stomach was eating itself, but he had bigger problems to deal with during the time.

"Sleep well, darlin'?" she asked. Clancy noticed that she had that southern hospitality going for her, but how long was that going to last before he pissed her off one way or another? He went to answer her question, but she cut him off to continue her sentence.

"Our daughter really likes you. She wants you to be her big brother," she admitted as she walked over towards him. He noticed the smile on her face, but tensed up a bit. She was clearly trying to show him that this was a good thing, but he felt that something was off. Besides, he was thirty five and had his own family back in Cincinnati. He saw her smile fade and as she got closer, she went right past him and set her lantern on a hook beside him, which he didn't notice earlier. Clancy watched as she hung it up then made her way around the bed.

"Aw, now don't get too excited, don't go jumping up and down just yet," she started as she walked over to his right side then placed the tray in front of him. "You wanna be apart of this family, you got to eat like family." Clancy trailed his eyes down onto the tray then widened his eyes. What the fuck was he even looking at? It looked like a bowl of tar and it reeked. It smelled so bad that his stomach practically dismissed itself. It was willing to go another day without anything.

"Mmm, don't that smell good?" she asked as she practically wafted it. No, it didn't smell good. Clancy held his breath, trying not to inhale the stench. If he did, he would probably gag or puke, and she would probably beat the tar out of him. Now, Clancy wasn't exactly a picky eater, but whatever _that_ was seemed inhumane. It didn't look like it should be consumed by anything, let alone anybody.

"You eat all of this and you can be one of us. Then I'll take those things off and you can go out and play, but you got to eat _all_ of it," she admitted. She was within inches of his face and he just sat there, not knowing what to do or say. He looked back down at the bowl and tried to keep a straight face as he picked up the spoon with dirty and shaky fingers.

"Wow, this um-" he started, noticing that she wasn't leaving until he said something. "This looks delicious," he said with a scared little smile. However, when the female saw his smile, she grinned right back. 

"Really it..." he started, "it looks... great," he said, trailing off at the end.

"Oh good," she started with a toothy grin before she started to walk towards the door, fishing something out of her pocket. "I'll be back in a lil bit to come check on you," she said as she got to the door. Clancy watched her and he noticed the key in her hand. It looked like there was a vine around it, but it glistened as the candle light hit it, as if it were metal as well. He wanted to get a good look at it. Thus, without even thinking, he called out to her.

"Wait-" Clancy started. He saw her turn around and he got a better look at the key. She turned around and faced him, but once she did, he crippled under the pressure and asked a random question. He probably should have just said "nevermind" or "thank you", but instead, he asked her an unsure question. "Is there anything else to eat?" he asked, which he immediately regret after the words slipped out. Once they were out, there was no way in hell that they were going to come back. Once she processed what she said, her brows furrowed and her stance straightened, as if she were to attack him. She shot him a look of mere hatred before she snapped at him from the doorway. Her fingers were clenched into balls and her fingers were wrapped so tightly over the key that her knuckles were white.

"You don't _need_ nothing else!" she snapped, which forced Clancy to flinch slightly, "now eat your goddamn supper!"

With that, she stormed out and closed the door behind her. It didn't take long before he heard the key slide into the hole then lock the door once more. Clancy didn't realize that he was holding his breath until he practically gasped a mouthful of musky air, which forced a cough out of him, but nothing more. He looked down at the dish once more then poked at it with his spoon. It reeked of sewage and flesh. When he scooped some up with his spoon, he saw maggots practically swimming around in the pool of tar. Of course, he merely gagged then dropped the utensil back down into the bowl. Clancy looked around once more then sighed. He clearly had to do something, but what? When he looked at his wrist, he started to tug and pull on the cuff before he heard it snap. When he looked down, he gently undid the hinge then crept out of the bed. Once he was up, he took a few steps to his left and snatched the lantern off the hook so he could see better.

He walked around the room the noticed the paintings scattered on the walls. Well, there was one hanging, one was on a stand nearby, and the other was nowhere to be seen. Clancy tried to keep quiet as he fixed the portraits on the wall. Well, he put the first two up and started to venture for the third one. He walked over towards the grandfather clock and quietly pulled it open. When he saw the painting, he sighed in relief before he grabbed it. However, when it rang loud enough to rattle his eardrums, he panicked and hid it before he started to throw the other two paintings back where he found them. He could hear the female bitching, complaining about the noise. _Shit shit shit_. Clancy placed the lantern back upon the hook before he crawled back in bed, quickly throwing the covers back over his legs then slamming his wrist down on the table. He clipped the cuff over his wrist again and waited. He was out of breath and was practically heaving for air, but once the door handle rattled, he held his breath and sat up straight for when that door flung open. When it did, he saw Marguerite. She observed the room with her eyes then walked over. She looked down at the bowl then looked over at him. Clancy was practically sweating bullets, but lucky for him, she seemed clueless as to what he had been doin.

"Come on now, eat up. I made that just for you," she admitted with a grin. "I even added something special in it. Do you know what I put?"

"I er-" Clancy thought. He practically heaved before he nervously licked his bottom lip. "Um... herbs?" 

"Herbs?" She asked, which forced Clancy's face to scrunch, as if he was waiting to be wrong. He was waiting for her palm to make contact with his skin. "You're a sharp one. That's right. I grow them in my garden so you know they're fresh. Go on, try it." She insisted with a smile. Clancy sighed before he picked the spoon back up. He put some on a spoon, as if he were to eat it. He drew it towards his lips and once Marguerite went out the door, he put the spoon down and sighed in relief. He uncuffed his wrist then went back to what he was doing.

Clancy stayed pretty quiet for the most part. He broke a smaller clock that sat on a table near the bed earlier, but he used a sewing needle as a hand. He looked at the time on his watch, which read that it was a little after 5:30 pm, so he tried that first. After that didn't work, he looked over at the grandfather clock then matched the time. Of course, when it did, it pierced his ears then moved the bed, revealing a hidden passage. Clancy's eyes widened for two reasons. One was because that was his route to escape, and the other was because Marguerite most likely heard that. Of course, once he realized this, he heard her coming. He heard her yell up at Lucas to quiet down, but after he yelled back that he wasn't doing anything, he heard her charging up the steps. Out of mere panic, he snatched the needle again. Clancy watched as the bed shifted back then he practically launched himself on the bed. He put the cuff back on and once that door handle jiggled, his heart dropped. He forgot to put the lantern back and he knew he was in a world of shit. _Fuck_. 

Once that door opened, Clancy's posture fixed. He could feel the cold sweat building up on his skin. He wasn't scared of the monsters. He wasn't scared of shooting a gun, he wasn't exactly scared of Jack either, but he was downright terrified when it came to Marguerite, mainly because he didn't know what to expect from her. Not to mention that it was obvious that he left the bed. He literally had her lantern on the damn bed with him. There was absolutely no way of covering it up and he knew he was fucked. When she noticed it, she immediately clenched her fists once more and furrowed her brows.

"That's my light! How did-" she started then rushed over, clearly pissed. She grabbed Clancy by the face and forced him to look at her. He could feel her needle-like hands clench his jaw and felt her nails practically piercing his skin. Clancy scrunched his face and tried to close his eyes, but she threw his head back against the head board. His head smacked so damn hard that his hat fell off, and he saw stars for a second. Once he fixated his eyes back on her, she was merely inches away from his face. She had her teeth clenched, practically snarling at him like a rebid dog.

"You were out of bed, weren't you?! You lying piece of shit! How did you get loose?!" she snapped, clearly angry.

"No, no! I wasn't! I- I-"

"Now don't give me that! I know when people are touching things they aren't supposed to!"

"It wasn't me!" Clancy yelled. _Quick_ , he thought, _think think_ , He had to come up with something, _anything_. "It was Lucas! He was just in here a minute ago."

"Lucas?" she asked with a snap. Once she processed who he was talking about, she laid off a bit. She sighed then leaned back. Her hands relaxed a bit before she fixed her posture once more. "Oh Lucas... I thought I told that boy he wasn't allowed to have you yet."

When the words casually slipped out from her lips, Clancy swallowed hard. _Yet_. Lucas was going to have a turn with him if he got to escape Marguerite. _Yet._ The word practically replayed in his mind over and over again. He was being passed around from family member to family member, at least that's what it felt like. If Jack didn't kill him, he'd go to Marguerite. If she didn't force him to eat rot and mold, he would go to Lucas. After this, he stopped breathing as he had a moment of realization. Lucas was only helping him with all of the puzzles thus far because he wanted his turn with him. It all made sense now. _"How could I have been so stupid?"_ he asked himself silently. Clancy didn't realize that he zoned out until he saw a new tray in front of him. Marguerite seemed to cool down a bit as a toothy grin stayed plastered across her face.

"Here, since you haven't eaten yet and it's most likely cold now, I brought you this," she admitted. Clancy looked over at the metal pot. Lucky for him, the lid was closed, containing the stench of rot. She went to speak again, but the older male stepped in. Jack, whom Clancy killed twice beforehand, was standing in the doorway.

"Marguerite, I told you to throw him out!" he snapped, clearly pissed that Clancy was there. "We already have enough men in the house!"

In response, her smile wiped off her face then she stepped outside. She locked the door behind her, keeping Clancy inside. He just awkwardly sat there, listening to them argue.

"Quiet, Jack! You'll scare him!" she snapped, and scared he was. Not because of Jack, but because he didn't know what was to become of him now. He would have chimed in and agreed with Jack on "throwing him off", but God only knew what he really meant by that. "And don't forget our little girl insisted that he stay, so you shut up!"

"What'd you say, woman?!" Jack snapped.

Of course, after this, Clancy heard her trying to unlock the door, almost frustrated. All he could do was pray, hope that she wouldn't open that damn door. He held his breath and closed his eyes once he heard that door open. However, once he heard Jack's voice, he opened his eyes and saw them.

"Marguerite!" he yelled, snapping her out of it. When Clancy opened his eyes, he saw the kitchen knife within her grasp. "Marguerite, I'm so sorry , honey. I didn't mean that. You know I love you, right?" Clancy just continued to sit there in mere horror as he watched them. Once Jack helped his wife out, they locked the door behind them and walked off. Once the coast was clear, Clancy got up out of bed and went back to his wanderings. Out of curiosity, he opened the lid to the pot and merely puked in his mouth.

"Oh my god.." he practically whispered to himself, "got to love home cooking.."

Clancy took the painting out from the corner then turned it on under the numerous wine bottles. Once he se a lighter to it, the bottles popped and sprayed, and the spiders that lived on these antiques practically burst from the impact. When he grabbed the bottle opener, he practically threw the damn painting back then tossed the lantern on the hook before he crawled back into bed. He put the cuff back on and signed shakily. This was all very stressful and he couldn't even be excited to escape anymore, mainly because he knew that Lucas was going to have a go at him next.

Of course, once that door opened, Marguerite inspected the room as she walked over. When she saw that he hadn't touched his food yet, she sighed then shot him a look.

"Why are you so damn stubborn?" she asked with an attitude. "Now, you better start eating before I take that fork and shove it all down your goddamn throat!"

Clancy simply nodded, which forced a sigh out of her. "You're so fucking picky.." she mumbled as she walked towards the door. Of course, like she always did, she locked the door behind her. This was it, this was hopefully the last time that he'd get up out of this bed. Hopefully he would escape successfully through the hatch in the floor. Clancy went to the hooks and started to pry them off the walls. Once he took the one that the lantern was on, he walked into the storage room and pillaged through drawers and cabinets. He noticed a key in a bird cage nearby and noticed that it looked like Marguerites. Of course, he knew that it wasn't the exact one, but it was identical. He looked around the room then noticed what looked like an old projector. When he saw, he put the lantern behind it and watched as a beam practically luminated onto the wall before him. Clancy noticed the missing pieces and after a bit, he started to piece everything together. He was so focused on getting that key that he didn't even notice when Marguerite was coming back. Once he finally got the key, it was already too late to go back and fix everything.

"Clancy!" was all he heard before he grasped the key and hunkered down a bit, "where the hell are you?!" It was Marguerite. _Fuck_. He held onto the key then stuffed it into his back pocket as he paced. _Think, think. Use your head._

"Are you in there?" She asked. Although he couldn't see her, he could hear the grin spreading across her damn face. She already knew that that's where he was. 

Clancy didn't even bother to grab the lantern. He ran over and slammed the sewing needle onto the clock before he eagerly waited for the bed to shift. Once he was far enough for him to open the hatch, he stuffed the key into the hole then broke the lock off. Clancy flung the door open while Marguerite screamed. She squired around, thrashing herself on the ground. She threatened to make him eat that knife, but by the time the words escaped, he was sprinting down the hallway in the darkness. He ran as fast as his legs could go but he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a luminating light towards the end of the hall. Clancy hesitated, but he eventually wandered towards it as his body trembled.

"City boy!" Lucas called out from the end with a lantern in hand, "fancy seeing you down here," he added with a smug little grin.

"Don't play dumb! You were helping me escape your folks so I can be yours, didn't you?!" Clancy snapped, clearly pissed.

"Smart one, aren't you?"

"Why you-" Clancy started, but Lucas leaned in a bit.

"Language," he reminded him. "Besides, remember when you said that you like games?"

"I didn't say that. You asked me who doesn't-" he started, but Lucas put his muddy and dust-smelling finger over the other's lips.

"Same thing," Lucas said. "Anyways, I got some planned for you. Don't that sound fun?"

"No," Clancy admitted, "it doesn't. Is my life some sort of sick game to you?!"

"Well, that's debatable, Clance."

"Don't call me that, you sick prick."

"Okay, Clance."

Of course, Clancy sighed in frustration before he pinched the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes a bit before he finally looked back at Lucas, who was still pretty damn close to his face.

"What kind of game?.."


	7. Just Like a Pill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what? I can finally add some of my own stuff in here now! Yay! Of course, I still have more canon things to add here, but this should hold y'all over until I can type up the next part, at least for a little bit.  
> (Also, sorry that this part is so short and vague, but ya know).

"Lucas! Did you find that damned hippy that keeps running off?"

"Yeah, dad!" Lucas yelled back to Jack. Marguerite had started preparing their feast downstairs and the smell practically tickled Lucas' taste buds as he walked down the hallway. Once he got to the room at the end of the hallway, he walked to his old bedroom. He opened the door and stepped in, looking over towards the back corner with a grin. The other male was laid there with both hands tied back to the headboard. It was the only way to ensure that he wouldn't run off.

"Get up, city boy," Lucas said as he closed the door behind him. Clancy just laid there with a raised upper lip and furrowed brows. He was pissed.

"If I could, I would."

"And then what would you do? Clobber me? I'd like to see you try," Lucas said with a cunning little smirk, mainly to himself. He pulled a wooden chair over and set it beside the bed before he flopped down into it. Clancy just watched as he laid there, unable to move anything but his fingers and legs. This was clearly some kids room or some shit. To the left of him, there was green wallpaper and numerous trophies. However, on the side that Clancy was on, it was darker. The plum colored walls seemed to deplete the lanterns glow, but it stayed bright enough to practically blind him whenever he looked towards it. Speaking of the room, he noticed that the bed across the room looks dingy. He saw the ash-like smears on the sheets and noticed the various rips and tears. When he tilted his head down, he observed the floral-printed covers and only assumed that this was Evie's side of the room. Evie, whom Marguerite spoke of earlier. Clancy didn't know why, but the name didn't sit well with him. He knew the Bakers, but Evie, despite him never seeing her, didn't seem like one. He didn't realize that he was zoned out until Lucas took a good swat at his knee cap with a book nearby, which forced Clancy's leg to jump and forced his gaze towards the other.

"Well?" Lucas asked, as if he asked him something.

"I wasn't listening, what did you say?"

"Jesus Christ..." Lucas mumbled. "I asked when the last time you ate was."

Clancy opened his mouth, as if to talk, but he sighed then crinkled his nose. Hell, when _was_ the last time? After pondering the question. He didn't even know what day it was.

"Um... the last time was on June 1st," he admitted.

"And I take it that you don't like my mama's cooking?"

Of course, when Lucas asked, Clancy trailed his eyes towards him. He scanned his body and face, trying to see if this was a trick question or not.

"I um..."

"I take that as a no," Lucas admitted, which forced Clancy to tense up a bit. He closed his eyes and trailed his face away, as if he was waiting for Lucas' hand to connect with his face with a firm yet quick slap, but it never happened. Instead, Lucas sighed then got up out of his chair.

"You're not mad?"

"No," Lucas admitted, "I was expecting that."

"Then why would you ask in the first place?"

"Just to be sure. Who knows what other surprises you have in store for me." Lucas admitted as he walked towards the door.

"Other?.."

"Yeah. You survived the Molded, you survived gashes and wounds, you escaped from the master bedroom, and now here you are. Who knows what else you have in store." Lucas grinned a bit at him then opened the door to go, but he stopped when Clancy spoke up.

"You're not going to tell her that I don't like it, right?" he asked nervously.

"What?" Lucas asked. "Oh, no. I'm not going to tell her. I just wanted to know." 

After this interaction, Lucas left Clancy on the bed. Of course, the cameraman tried to thrash and pull the break loose, but his hands stayed shackled down to the headboard behind him. He tilted his chin down and looked over by the foot of the bed. He was so damn tall that his feet were touching the floor. He had his knees bent over the end of the bed and his sneakers were connected to the wooden panels that patterned the ground. Clancy went to lunge upwards to try and make his hands slip, but this caused him to yelp in pain as the metal practically cut into his wrist. His limbs were growing numb from how long he'd been laying like this. Clancy could feel all the blood draining from his arms and funneling into his back. After a while, he whined because his arms ended up falling asleep and he felt uncomfortable. However, shortly after this, Lucas came back. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder and a glass. As he drew closer, Clancy practically sank further into the mattress and he kept his eyes on the cup. He wanted to look away and fixate his pupils on Lucas, but he physically couldn't. He swallowed hard and could feel the cold chills practically beating against his shoulders. Clancy was growing anxious over it. Of course, Lucas noticed then grinned to himself as he held the glass with both hands.

"You really want this, don't you?" he asked, practically taunting the other male. Clancy didn't want to give in, but he nodded then anxious squirmed at an attempt to prop himself up. However, the restraints wouldn't let him do so.

"I have a proposition for you, but don't worry, it's nothing crazy," Lucas admitted. "I made some puzzles and tests. If I give you this, you have to play them. What do you say, Clance?" he asked. Of course, Clancy nodded a bit as he finally looked up towards him.

"Yeah," he started. "Yeah okay, just- can you take these off so I can have some?" Clancy asked as he pulled on his wrists, which forced the restraint's to rattle and clang against the metal headboard behind him. Lucas went to answer, but he stopped, thinking for a moment. When he went to speak, Clancy noticed that his eyes seemed to soften a bit, as if he saw something. Maybe he saw the welts forming on his skin from the damn cuffs. Maybe he could see the blood leaving his arms and puddling into his back. After a bit, Lucas undid one of them and handed him the cup. Of course, Clancy practically snatched the cup then started to chug. After his second or third mouthful, he pulled the cup away then scrunched his face a bit. He looked down at the liquid in the cup then over at Lucas.

"Is this well water?"

"Yeah," Lucas admitted. "why? City boy doesn't like it because it's not purified?"

"I was just curious, geez," Clancy mumbled. He looked down then took a few more gulps as he felt the blood flowing back into his fingers. "It has a weird aftertaste..." he mumbled. He was expecting Lucas to make another comment, but when he looked over, he was smirking evilly. By the time Clancy noticed, the liquid that was once in the glass was now rushing down his throat. His mouth dropped a bit as he saw Lucas' face. This wasn't good.

"What else was in that?.." he finally asked.

"Oh don't worry about it, city boy. Just try to get some rest," Lucas said as the grin stayed plastered across his face. Clancy could practically feel his blood boil as his breathing slowed. He tried to clench his fists, but his hands relaxed once more and his body slumped once more as he looked at him. He watched through slit eyelids and he went to say something, but only a grunt escaped from between his lips.

"When you get up, you'll be ready to play my little game," Lucas admitted as he walked towards the door. Before he could even open the damn thing, Clancy was out like a light.


	8. Sink or Swim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty choppy. This is a cut-and-dry part, but I hope to post another part either shortly after this, or post a new part tomorrow. We'll see what happens. also, thank you to all who have been reading, commenting, and supporting this story! I didn't expect any recognition or anything since this game and ship are dead, but I'm vert grateful!

When Clancy was waking up, he felt stiff. He went to stir, but he couldn't move. When he opened his eyes, it was pitch black. He could feel some sort of restraints on his limbs, especially on his left hand, but he couldn't see or depict what the hell it was. Whenever he went to pull his hand back or thrash his wrist around, he would hear something rattling, like if he were to gently tap a metal spoon against that metal tray that Marguerite gave him previously. He went to move his legs, and luckily for him, they weren't bound by anything. However, when he went to move, he kicked something under the table. Whatever it was groggily grunted at him, which forced Clancy to freeze, practically holding his breath. He waited for it to say something, anything, but it didn't make anymore noises. Well, not until Clancy was flashed with a few bright lights. He heard static radiating from behind the other male and once he could fixate his eyes on the sight, he noticed five grainy copies of Lucas.

"Hey. Hey! Look at me!" Lucas said, practically demanding that Clancy look at him through the screens. "Clancy, my man, you got to look up here!"

Once he did, Lucas grinned into the camera, which practically forced chills down Clancy's back.

"Yeah, there ya go."

"What the fuck do you want?" Clancy snapped. The light from the televisions illuminated the male and the restraints on his hand, but he was too fixated on the screens to even notice.

"Feisty, as always," Lucas aid before slumping back in his seat. The male in front of Clancy had a burlaps sack over his head, but wasn't responding to anything yet. "Now, city boy, I wonder... do you have what it takes?"

When Clancy heard the question, he scrunched his nose a bit. He furrowed his brows a bit and cocked his head to the side with a puzzled yet pissed expression.

"What kind of question is that?!"

"Well, you see, you two are gonna play a little game," Lucas admitted as he adjusted in his chair once more. "You know, the one you agreed to partake in, city boy," he reminded him.

"Are you fucking ki-"

"Clancy... language," Lucas said again. He shook his head at the screen, as if disappointed with the cameraman's word choice, but he didn't bring it back up. "You should be excited to be playing this game."

"Oh, yeah?" Clancy started, "and why's that?!"

He could feel the blood rushing through his body and into his face from how frustrated he was. He didn't know what for, but he felt used. He felt like Lucas was treating him more like a dog or a toy than a human being. Clancy didn't exactly know why he was mad about this, but he was. He couldn't help that his cheeks were growing red and heated from pure rage, and luckily Lucas didn't notice.

"You should, because get this, whoever wins gets to walk on outta here alive." Lucas said. Clancy felt his body tense up a bit once the words slipped out. He probably shouldn't have been so hopeful, but he wanted to believe that he could leave this hell hole. He started to believe that if he won, he could go back home to Cincinnati and try to act like nothing happened. He just wanted to go home and once the words slipped out, he began to grow hopeful once more. Since Pete died, he felt pretty hopeless, especially in the current situation he was in right now, but he was starting to feel better about this.

"So pay attention. Because it's life, or death." Lucas said with a smirk. Clancy sighed shakily but once Lucas was done talking, the lights turned back on. He practically winced from nearly being blinded and once he was able to see what was going on, he saw two cards in front of him. Furthermore, he saw two in front of his opponent as well, but one of which was flipped over. Clancy saw that his opponent had an 11 in front of him, which was odd considering that cards were numbered two to ten, there were aces, jacks, queens, and kings, and not a number eleven. This was when he realized that these cards were handmade.

"Do you like cards? Of course you do. Well, I've made up a game especially for you two." Lucas admitted.

"Except we don't bet with chips around here," he added.

Once the words slipped out, the lights flickered and seemed to highlight their hands. When Clancy went to look, he felt his heart drop when he saw the contraption that his hand was restrained in. His wrist was bound as well as his fingers. When he noticed the blade raise over his pinky like a guillotine, he felt all the blood drain from his body. He wanted to pull his hand back, but based on the look of things, this was probably a terrible decision. Lucas clearly had the control to this contraption. If Clancy went to squirm, God only knew if Lucas would "accidentally" cut off his finger or not.

"If you catch my drift," Lucas finally said with a devilish grin. His face was plastered across the screen so he had to be within an inch or two away from the camera. After he set the tone, the numerous televisions were grainy once more. The static was faint, but still audible as Clancy looked down at one of the cards he had, which was a 4.

"Hey, he said he'd let the winner go," he heard before he looked across the table. The other man still had the sack over his head, but it was clear that he was making eye contact with Clancy. He could practically feel his pupils searing through the holes of the bag and staring directly at him.

"Who are you?" Clancy asked, but the other ignored his question.

"What do you think? Do you believe that freak?" the other male started, but was cut off by their captor once more.

"And now I'll explain the rules of the game! You fellas played blackjack, right? You just draw cards, trying to get to 21. Go over that, and you lose!" Lucas said. They couldn't see him on the screen, but they could hear him through a speaker of some sort. His voice echoed throughout the room, but they could clearly hear what he was saying despite this.

"Wait- wait! This is crazy!" the other male yelled, but Lucas ignored this comment.

"So, say your prayers, and let the games begin!" Lucas said, clearly excited about what he had in store for both males.

"Are you fucking kidding?!" Clancy asked, hoping that their captor would respond this time, but he got nothing. Instead, the light flickered over him like a damn spotlight before Lucas spoke up once more.

"Alright, Clancy, my man- you're up first!" he started. "Either draw a card, or stick with what you got. Aim for 21. You can count, right?" Lucas asked with a snarky little tone, implying that Clancy wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch. Once this was implied, he looked down at this cards and thought for a moment. He had a four and a random card in front of him.

"Hit me." When the card slid, he had a 5. Right now, he knew he had at least 10 in total. Worse case-scenario, he had a one under there. After he received his card, the light dimmed then flickered over onto the other male and his cards.

"Okay, Hoffman. You're next." Lucas said. Hoffman, that was his name, or that was what he was being referred to at least. "Reminder that these cards are numbered one to eleven. No doubles, and you share the same deck."

After a moment of contemplation, he spoke up. He out his hand down on the table then answered.

"I'll stay."

Clearly Clancy was more familiar with the games' terminology compared to the other.

Alright, fellas! Lets see those cards!" Lucas yelled, clearly excited to use his fancy little toys on some poor soul. When they revealed what they had, it was dead silent. They both held their breath, hoping that the other either bust or got less than them. After reviewing the numbers, Lucas spoke up again to conclude the verdict.

"It's a- draw!" Lucas yelled. Hoffman had nineteen and as did Clancy. However, he seemed displeased after a scoff was produced through the speaker.

"A draw...?" he started, "I guess you both lose!"

Of course, when these words were spoken, the light flickered over their hands. Clancy watched as the tiny guillotine raised a bit more, as if it was preparing to cut his damn finger off like a knife searing through a damn carrot.

"Why?! Why you fuck?!" Clancy screamed. Once that blade came down and pierced through his flesh and bone, he screamed in pain as well as his opponent. Hoffman just bit the bullet and didn't seem as distraught, but Clancy was suffering. He went to grab his hand, but stopped himself once he saw that his pinky was clean gone. Of course, Lucas laughed while the other two males wailed in distress and pain.

"Hell of a game, right?!"


	9. Put Your Hurt on Me, If You Dare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... instead of breaking this into two chapters, they're put into two sections within the same chapter since they're so short. Also, I am so excited to start adding some cute ang angsty stuff in!! I've waited so long and- ahh! Hope y'all will enjoy it as much as I do!

As the numerous rounds continued and the trump cards came into play, Clancy was gaining the upper hand on Hoffman. He was so dead set on getting out of here that despite Hoffman's plea to die so he could get to his family, he doubled the bet and watched as Hoffman was burnt to a crisp later on. Although Clancy had numerous shock waves coursing through him previously, he had finally won, or so he thought. When Lucas played with Hoffman's corpse like a damn rag doll just to continue their little game, Clancy was getting pissed. This was growing ridiculous.

"He's clearly dead and you're using him to get me killed, you sick prick!" Clancy snapped.

Of course, once Lucas was called out, he didn't comment on the matter. After a while, Hoffman did meet his demise. Despite his pleads for Clancy to perish so he could see his family again, the cameraman didn't cave in and continued to win hands in blackjack. Once it was all over, the screens turned back on, and Lucas had a weird look on his face. He looked pissed, but he also seemed intrigued by the other male. When Clancy saw his face, he sighed in relief. He won.

"We're done now, right?"

No answer.

"Will you let me go now?.."

Nothing, at least not right away. Instead, Lucas applauded from the screen. 

"You are one cold son of a bitch." Lucas snapped. However, he smirked to himself as he leaned back into his swivel chair. "You're stubborn, but you're smart. I dig it."

Of course, when Clancy heard this, he didn't know whether he should take this as a compliment or an insult. Thus, he just sat there and waited. He didn't know what for, but he waited patiently. Maybe Lucas would come in and help him out the door. Maybe he would let Clancy go willingly. Maybe, just maybe, Clancy could hop into the white van he came here in and leave. He could drive off and never look back. Hell, maybe he could go back home and act like nothing happened!

"Now, you impress me so much, I'm gonna give you an extra reward."

"We're gonna play another game- you and me. Oh, ain't life grand?"

"No! You said I'd be able to get out of here!" Clancy snapped.

"And you are! I'm going to take you to another room for our next game," Lucas admitted.

"You dirty-rat bastard!" Clancy snapped as he attempted to get up, but he was immediately pulled back down from the bands around his torso. He was furious and it showed, and it made another smile appear across Lucas' face.

"Your feistiness is attractive, city boy," he said with a sneer, clearly attempting to piss the other male off. Of course, hopelessness and distress started to set in once again as Clancy practically sank into his seat. He could feel the hot tears puddling above his bottom eyelid from how furious he was. He wasn't going to cry. He refused to let it happen, despite the lump in his throat that he was choking down on.

"I can't take this anymore! Please!" Clancy practically choked out. Before he could even finish his sentence, the screens turned grainy before they started to power off. One by one. After each one turned off, the room would grow dimmer.

"Please, God..." was the last thing he mumbled before the room was pitch black once again. Clancy sat there awkwardly and after a bit, Lucas appeared with his lantern in order to see. He set it down on the table and scanned Hoffman then grinned before he looked over at Clancy.

"I knew you'd win," he admitted as he picked up Clancy's pinky and inspected it. The cameraman scrunched his nose at that before he set it back down and moved Hoffman a bit. "You know, you're my favorite little lab rat, right?" he asked, looking over at the male who was still very much alive.

"I'm not you're fucking lab rat!" Clancy snapped. He was still choking on the lump and was barely hanging onto those tears that desperately tried to break free from his eyes. He was doing a good job at this, but once Lucas turned and looked at him, they slipped right down his face and traveled down towards his dark yet grey-patched beard. Well, not as thick as a beard, but something short of that. Clancy swallowed thickly before he closed his eyes and sighed shakily. He tried to control it, but his body started to tremble from how worked up he was. Instead of making a remark or snarky comment like he should have, Lucas undid Hoffman's restraints then let him hit the ground with a thud.

Clancy could hear the wooden chair scrapping across the wooden panels that lined the floor. He heard it drawling closer and once it was close enough, he opened his eyes to see that Lucas was sitting near him with a red bag. When the other male opened the box, Clancy noticed all of the appliances and equipment within it, such as bandages, first aid, and various miscellaneous items. Lucas set a few items on the table, such as a sewing needle, thread, and a dirty rag. It was stained in blood, dirt, sweat, spit, and, although he couldn't see it, he was willing to bet that this was covered in bacteria.

Of course, Clancy scrunched his nose in disgust when he saw this. He sniffled a bit and wiped his face with his other hand then started to hiccup a bit. His body would jump here and there and after every hic, he would sighed shakily and try to catch his breath. Lucas undid the restraints on Clancy's fingers, but left the metal cuff over his wrist so he couldn't move it. Lucas didn't hesitate before he grabbed Clancy's hand, but the cameraman practically snapped at him.

"Get off of me!"

"Chill out!" Lucas practically snapped back, which forced Clancy to sink into his seat and shut his mouth for the time being. After a moment of awkward silence, Lucas sighed then looked over at the other male. Clancy's eyes were a smoky-grey color. They were like little piles of gunpowder that were puddled around Clancy's pupils. They sparkled from the tears of frustration that built up there and they were, for lack of a better term, fascinating.

"You're a tough guy, right? You don't need a towel or some shit to bite on while I help you," Lucas asked as he looked at him. Clancy took another glance at the cloth that Lucas had and he practically thrashed his head from side to side. Once he responded, Lucas started to stitch Clancy's severed pinky back on. Anytime he looked over at the cameraman, he noticed that he was in pain. Although Clancy tried to choke down every grunt and whimper in pain, his face said it all. He had his head back, his eyes were closed, his face was crinkled, and he had a tight hold of the arm of the chair. In fact, he had such a tight grip that his knuckled were white and his arm was shaking from how tight his grasp was.

After what felt like an eternity, Lucas was done. He put some ointment on the wound and started to pack his things back up. When Clancy realized that he was done, he opened his eyes back up and fixated his gaze upon his captor. He eventually trailed his eyes back down towards his hand then sighed shakily. It looked disgusting. He saw the ointment that practically made his hand shine, the black ribbon that kept his finger attached stood out, his finger looked a shade lighter than the rest of his skin, and the whole image was disturbing. He zoned out on his hand, but snapped out of it when Lucas undid the rest of the restraints.

"Do you have enough blood in you to walk?" Lucas asked. Clancy couldn't tell if he was joking or if he was serious, but nonetheless, he nodded as he shakily got up. Once he was up, he just stood there. He waited for Lucas to restrain his hands or something, but it never happened. Instead, Lucas walked towards the door and opened it, gesturing for Clancy to go through it first so he could lock the door behind them. Of course, instead of drawling attention to this, Clancy simply kept his head down and wandered through the doorway.

Lucas latched the door behind them and locked it. Once he lifted his head and saw that Clancy stayed put, he grinned a bit then started to lead the other male to another part of the estate. Clancy, without asking any questions, followed willingly. He lingered behind him and after they strolled for a while, Lucas led him back inside the house. He didn't know where else to put him. He could have put him in the garage, but that wasn't the best idea. He could have left him in that room, but something told him that Clancy would have mentally lost it in there. He could have brought him to the other part of the house just past Zoe's trailer, but he had work to do in there. He could have put him in the greenhouse, but if Clancy found his mother's plants and herbs, he'd never hear the end of it. Thus, inside the main house was fine. Lucas brought him back to the bedroom. Not the master bedroom where Marguerite kept him, but the bedroom that him and Zoe shared when they were kids.

Once they got there, Lucas shooed him in then walked him over towards the bed. He had Clancy sit down before he put some restraints on. Lucas knew that his hand was probably killing him. Instead of cuffing his hands on anything, he simply shackled up his left ankle. That way he could move around without getting too far away from the bed. Clancy watched him through heavy eyelids but didn't talk much as he watched.

"You stay in here and I'm going to conjure up another game for you. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Lucas said before he stepped back. If he could, Clancy probably would have said something snarky. He would have dropped another f-bomb and Lucas would most likely tell him to watch his language again. However, when Lucas got the door, he was surprised when Clancy thanked him for not only stitching his finger back up, but for trusting him to come back without any kind of restraints. Of course, Lucas didn't know what to say or do. Thus, he simply stepped out and went down the hallway again.

After he left, he sighed shakily then went to create another game for the other male. Once he got to the front door, he started to realize something. This whole time, he was helping Clancy. He aided him in order for him to be in his possession. As far as he knew, Clancy was his toy to play with. He was hoping to kill him with blackjack, but of course the other male outsmarted him on that one. Although he was dead set on ending that pathetic yet cunning cameraman, he was also hoping that Clancy would outsmart him again. If he was gone, who else would he mentally fuck with? What were the odds that another fool like him would come around here and last this long?

Once he started to get to work, he didn't know which option would be better. Would ending Clancy be a great move? Would watching him prevail feel good? God only knew.


	10. Far From Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is pretty straightforward. There's nothing too fancy in here so bear with me please. I'm publishing this at like 6 am my time so please tough this part out until I can create some fun stuff.

While Lucas was out, Clancy was pretty drained. His body hurt, his finger seemed to pulsate and throb, his stomach was practically eating itself due to lack of any sustainability, he was both mentally and emotionally exhausted, but he couldn't relax. He couldn't help but feel guilty. Hoffman basically begged, pleaded, and cried for Clancy to let him win so he could see his family again. Hoffman had a family (he could only assume that they were a loving one). He had a wife and a daughter. Before he died, he promised his daughter, Melissa, that he would get out of there and go home to her. However, Clancy fucked this plan up. If Hoffman won, he would still be here. He would probably be in the same predicament as Clancy was right now, but he wasn't a hundred percent certain on that.

Nonetheless, Hoffman was dead because of him. He tried to push it away. He tried to view this predicament as survival of the fittest, but guilt was practically burning through him. In fact, it unsettled Clancy so much that he thought he was going to be sick. He could feel his blood run cold and feel his heart racing through his chest. He could feel the droplets of cold sweat beading up on his back and face before he sighed shakily. When all else failed, Clancy sat up at an attempt to calm himself down, and preferably before anybody came to see him. The anxiety continued to creep up on him and after a while, he put himself in a tizzy.

He didn't think that he should be here. Even though Hoffman wasn't better off, he wouldn't be dead. Hoffman had a family, which entailed at least a sustainable marriage and at least one child. Clancy, on the other hand, had dogs. He had two, and since he knew he was going out of state, they stayed with his parents until further notice. Speaking of which, they were probably worried about him. His mother was probably calling his phone every second of the day, but it was probably dead by now. Hell, if the Bakers' found it, it was probably at the bottom of the bayou nearby. His dad, on the other hand, was probably trying to calm her down. He would worry, but he wouldn't let his wife know because then she would be frantic about the situation.

When it came to his backstory, Clancy was a Taurus. He was born in late April of 1982. He was only thirty five, but he greyed early, and he had his dad to thank for that. Clancy was given this first name because he was given his dad's middle name. He was the only other male in the family, but not the only child. In fact, he had two older sisters. One was thirty eight and the other was forty. The oldest was married to her high school sweetheart and when Clancy was sixteen, he had a nephew to spoil throughout the rest of his high school career. His other sister was also in a great relationship, but she didn't find her soulmate until years prior. In fact, she was cohabiting with her partner since marriage wasn't exactly in their deck of cards yet. Clancy met her partner once. She was really nice. He got to meet her at a family gathering they had, and if he remembered correctly, he met her on the Fourth of July.

Clancy, on the other hand, didn't have anybody. He dated folks, especially throughout high school, but he never met the one yet. At this point, he didn't think he ever would. As long as Lucas kept him here, he was going to rot away and die before he could do so. He never really thought about this. He never really had any plans as he ventured into his adulthood. For instance, he never really pondered the idea of having any kind of partner. It wasn't that he didn't care, he was just never concerned over the matter. However, as he sat on the edge of the bed, he started to regret it. If he died here, that would be one of his many. If he knew he would be in this situation, he probably wouldn't be in a relationship anyways because he wouldn't want his partner to get hurt. If he knew, he probably wouldn't have taken the cameraman job for the Sewer Gators. He loved horror and the paranormal aspect of haunted attractions were always fascinating, but nonetheless, he probably would have declined the offer if he knew that it would lead to this.

After Clancy contemplated everything for a while, the door handle jiggled, which forced Clancy to fix his posture. Once the door opened and he saw Lucas standing there, he sighed. He didn't know whether to be annoyed or relieved, but maybe that was for the best. God only knew what Lucas had in store for him, and whether it was good or bad.

"Oh boy, you're going to love this game!" Lucas said with a grin. He walked over and pulled Clancy's hands together before restraining them once more. He was so used to this kind of treatment that he just let Lucas do his thing.

"Oh really?" he asked, "how so?"

"Well, I can't tell you. It's a surprise!" Lucas said, practically pulling Clancy up off the bed by his wrists. When he got back up, he practically towered over the other male. When Lucas noticed this, he growled to himself lowly before he started to drag the scrawny male into the hallway. After they went down a flight of steps, they wandered towards a door with three dog heads on them. Clancy remembered this room. He remembered when Jack dragged him through here then tossed him into the basement for the night. He could practically smell the musky and molded air, which forced a chill down his body. Once Lucas walked him out the door, Clancy took a deep breath through the nose. The air was fresh. Well, as fresh as it could be considering that the stench of the bayou lingered. Clancy saw all the plants, the trailer, and everything in between. They started to walk towards another facility that was attached to the house, but he didn't really say anything. He seemed more content since he got to see the outdoors again. It'd been a while.

Lucas led the other male towards a door and once they stepped in, Clancy scrunched his nose when he noticed the long stairway. He saw the light at the top of the steps, but he couldn't quite see what was up there. Once the door latched behind them, Lucas nudged Clancy a bit before he walked him up the damn steps.

"So your game is up here?" Clancy asked once they got halfway.

"We still have some distance to cover before we get there," Lucas admitted as he continued to drag the cameraman. Well, Clancy was following behind willingly, but Lucas wouldn't let go of his wrists. "This is the best game I've come up with."

"Anything would be better than your last game..." Clancy admitted.

"What's that supposed to mean, city boy?" Lucas asked. He didn't yell, but he had an undertone of sternness within his voice.

"I mean, I got my finger chopped off, I got zapped, and got my pinky sewn back on." Clancy admitted. He listed these and by the end, Lucas spoke up as they got to the door.

"And you killed Hoffman." Lucas said. This sentence forced Clancy's airway to close. He practically choked on air before he looked over at the other. He looked shocked, but this soon turned into anger. Clancy stood in place and wouldn't move after a bit. Lucas noticed then growled before he tried to pull the other by the wrists again, but he wouldn't budge.

"I didn't kill Hoffman!" Clancy snapped, clearly offended in some way or another.

"Yeah you did," Lucas said. "Not only him, but your friends that you came here with too."

"No I didn't!" Clancy practically shrilled at the other male. 

"Why does it matter what I think anyways?! Not like my opinion means anything to you." Lucas snapped. He wasn't understanding why Clancy was growing so defensive.

"Because you and your folks are the reason why they're all gone! You and your sick little games!"

"Oh don't act so innocent. You didn't have to come to the estate, you didn't have to willingly be the bait, and you didn't have to win. Thus, you killed them, and this is all your fault." Lucas said. He wanted to grin, but he couldn't. There was nothing to smile about here.

"And you think I had a choice, that's comical," Clancy mumbled.

"You did," Lucas said, "you came here and you can't be pissed off. You practically signed up for this shit."

After this was said, Clancy stayed dead silent. He had so much to say and do. He wanted to break through the restraints and beat the hell out of the other male. He wanted to spit on his face like he was the scum of the Earth. He wanted to knock him out and run. Although this all sounded great, he just stood there then started to walk towards the facility once again.

"You're something else... you now that?" Clancy mumbled, not expecting any real answer.

"And as are you." Lucas grumbled.

After a while, Lucas led Clancy towards a room. There were crates, metal cages, totes, and other equipment. The only thing that stuck out to Clancy was the door and the passcode key beside it. The door was metal and the window was covered by laced fencing that intertwined and overlapped each other. He didn't look at the numbers that Lucas punched in, but after his first attempt, he heard a buzzing noise. The light above the door handle flashed green then Lucas swung the door open. He grabbed Clancy and pushed him inside before he grabbed a knife from his back pocket. Well, he pulled out a pocketknife and revealed the blade before he started to cut the ties that bounded Clancy's wrists together.

"You, my friends, are one lucky son of a bitch." Lucas admitted. "You know, I actually envy you."

Clancy scrunched his face a bit but didn't comment. The other male looked at him then smiled a bit. He didn't grin, but something was off about this smile. It wasn't a happy one, no tin the slightest. This seemed more like an insane flash of teeth instead.

"What? You don't believe me?" he asked before he got an inch or two away from the other males' face. "This joy? Why you can't fake this!"

"Now, I planned this weeks ago for somebody as smart as you, but now I finally have somebody to play it for me!" Lucas said with a smile. The same insane smile from before. However, his tone made it seem like he was genuinely excited. Lucas finally cut the ties and Clancy just stared at his hands. The room was dark except for the little bit of light that came from the doorway.

"Aw, come on now. Don't be like that." Lucas said. Clancy started to zone out but snapped out of it once Lucas forced his chin up. He forced the cameraman to look up at him from the ground. "This is going to be fun. Just you wait."

Of course, after this was said, Clancy started to feel a little unsettled once more. There was no way in hell that this was going to end well. Once he got up off the ground, he turned to see that Lucas was already gone. He walked over towards the door and pulled on the handle, but it wouldn't budge. _Fuck_. When Clancy turned back around, he merely jumped out of his skin when he saw an animatronic yet lifelike figure in a chair. It was hovered over a table and held a lit candle within its robotic hand. He hesitated to beckon towards it, but he snatched the candle from its grasp then started to walk around. He didn't know what he was looking for quite yet, but he was determined to find it nonetheless. He eventually stumbled across a room. Well, he saw something glowing within it and that's why he started to drawl towards it. Once he got tp the doorway, he could feel something hitting his body. The liquid burned his candle out and once again, it was dark. Soon, there was a clicking noise before lights turned on, which merely blinded him. Clancy grunted from the bulbs then once his eyes adjusted, he noticed the room. He saw the table with the barrel on it, he saw the lockbox on the wall, he looked up and saw the sprinkler, and he noticed the table before him. He strolled over and scrunched his nose when he saw what was on the table. It made his stomach cartwheel since it looked so edible, but upon further inspection, this wasn't the case. The words "Happy Fucking Birthday. Got a Light?" were written on a scrap of paper that rested on top of the glue-like frosting. He scrunched his nose a bit because he could smell the paint fumes that practically wafted from it. Clancy just stared at it for a while, but damn near jumped out of his skin when he heard the other males voice again.

"I'm calling the game, 'I'd really like to make it out of this room alive and not die a horrible painful death'. I know, it's a temp title. Take a candle, light it, and put it on the cake. And remember to smile. This party is for you!" Lucas said. Clearly he wasn't in the room, but he was clearly watching him through a camera or system of some sort. Furthermore, he was clearly observing from afar. This man was nutty. Clancy knew this. He knew that there was some kind of trick to this game, but he didn't know what it was yet.

"Fuck you!"


	11. Sell Yourself to Save Your Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m in the car writing this so bear with me please. I didn’t know how to write this chapter. I had like three different scenarios and I already started to write this one, so this is what y’all are getting until I update. Also, please don’t mind misspells and such!

After he wandered around the premises, he tried to piece everything together. Clearly everything here had some sort of meaning or significance, at least that’s what he took note on.

He kept the candle in his hand. The wick was burnt out, but it was damp from the minor downpour through the doorway. The droplets were dark against his navy blue t-shirt and he could feel the fibers clinging to his skin a bit more. Clancy looked over at the cake and walked back over towards it. The others were lit too. He looked around then hovered the wick over the flames, which ignited a spark before his candle was lit once more.

Clancy just stood there, waiting for Lucas to say something. Luckily for him, nothing was said, at least not right away. He put the candle on the cake then took a few steps back, waiting to see how Lucas would react.

”...I did it,” Clancy finally choked out, “can I go now?..” he asked.

”You cheating son of a bitch!” Lucas snapped through the system.

”No, you just made it a little too easy,” Clancy said, unintentionally taunting the other male. He heard the speaker cut out then after a little bit, he heard Lucas approach the door. He heard the keys being punched in and he could barely hear Lucas swearing under his breath. Clancy, in the meantime, stood there in the room. _Quick, use your head_.

When Lucas got the door unlocked, he stepped inside and looked for the other male. When he didn’t see him right away, he closed the door behind him then walked in, looking for him. He went straight into the room where Clancy was last seen, but he wasn’t there. When he stepped out of the room, he saw that the other male was tugging on the door handle, but it refused to open. Once Clancy saw him, he just stood there with his hands shakily grasping onto the handle.

Lucas, upon seeing this, grinned before he started to walk over. Well, he started to, but he lunged at him once he got close enough. Before Lucas could grab him, Clancy took a swing at him. His fist was clenched so tight that his knuckles were white and the tendons that ran through his fingers flexed. When Clancy swung, his knuckles connected to the others face. However, instead of finishing the job, Clancy just nervously stood there. He wanted to make him hit the ground. He wanted to beat the tar out of him until he was out cold. However, after that one blow, he seemed to freeze. When Lucas realized that the other male swung at him, he looked appalled. He brushed his fingertips under his nose and when he saw the blood that caked his fingers, he shot Clancy a look, as if to tell him that he shouldn’t have done that without verbalizing it.

Out of pure anger, Lucas grabbed the male by the arms then threw him down on the ground, which forced Clancy’s chin to bounce off the floor. Lucas climbed on top of him and forced Clancy’s hands behind him before he zip tied them together. He breathed hard and sat right between Clancy’s shoulder blades, forcing the other male to wheeze through screaming apologizes and shaky words. Lucas wasn’t listening to him. He could hear him, but he wasn’t taking in what the other was saying. All he could see was red and if he heard Clancy, he would smack the shit out of his head at an attempt to shut him up.

After a few failed efforts, Lucas reached in his back pocket and pulled out a rag. It was caked in dirt, blood, and what could only be assumed to be an oil of some sort. He flipped the other male over so he was laying in his back, and was essentially crushing his own arms and hands since they were behind him. Once Clancy felt the others weight on his stomach, he closed his eyes and his mouth as he laid there. Lucas sat there and tried to wedge the rag between his lips, but the other was too stubborn to let it happen.

As a last resort, Lucas pinched his fingers over the other males nose and waited. Clancy tried to squirm around and thrash to move his face away, but he wouldn’t budge. He tried to wait it out, but once he felt all the blood leaving his face, he took a deep breath in through parted lips. When they opened, Lucas shoved the rag so far into the back of his throat that Clancy was practically choking on the fibers. He could practically taste the bacteria that layered and embedded itself within the cloth.

After the deed was done, Lucas got up off the other and sighed in relief before he wiped his nose. He looked down at the other and merely grinned at the sight. He leaned down over the other until he was an inch or two away from his face.

”You know, I like you better when you can’t talk or fight back,” he admitted.

Clancy just laid there and fixated his eyes on the other. He was practically choking on the air that he was taking in. He was out of breath from struggling and screaming. His entire body hurt, especially his arms and chin. Upon the sight, Lucas smiled at himself before he tried to get Clancy up. Once the other went dead weight and refused to move, Lucas started to drag Clancy by the shirt. He walked him out the door then practically threw him in the middle of the room before he sighed.

”If you don’t start cooperating, I’m gonna have my old man deal with you,” Lucas admitted. “I’ve given you numerous chances to redeem yourself. I’ve let you walk without restraints and I even gave you water when you were dehydrated, and now you’re acting like this!” He snapped, clearly pissed off and maybe disappointed with the other male. Clancy just laid there and shook hard as he breathed through flared nostrils.

”Now, you either do as I say, or I leave you here and let my dad deal with you. You have to the count of three to make your decision before I leave,” Lucas snapped. Clancy just sat there and furrowed his brows, unable to speak.

1

Clancy didn’t move. He just sat there, pissed at the world.

2

His breathing started to grow heavy and his eyes softened as he looked over at Lucas. He hated the predicament he was in, but he didn’t know what to do. He already had an encounter with Jack Baker and it was horrifying. God only knew what he’d do with him this time.

When Lucas’ mouth opened to speak, Clancy stirred on his back before he attempted to get up. Lucas noticed the struggle and to his pleasure, he grinned to himself before he helped him up off the ground.

”That’s what I thought, city boy..” he growled before he started to walk the other out of the room.

After the left the facility, Lucas walked him inside the main house and up the steps once more. However, instead of taking him back to him and Zoe’s old room, he brought him to a room with a pool table right by the door. Once they walked past it, Lucas brought Clancy into what could only assume to be the guest room. It was nicer than all the other rooms. It was clean and the smell of semi-fresh linen lingered in his nostrils. However, this “room” was more like a walk-in closet compared to the rest of the estate.

Once they got in, Lucas practically threw the other male onto the bed. Clancy landed face down of course with a grunt. Lucas watched as the other squirmed to get onto his side. He didn’t break the ties and instead, he walked towards the door and waited for the other to adjust, or try to. Once Clancy flipped onto his side, he was already out of breath. He trailed his eyes over towards the other male and furrowed his brows.

”Now, you just sit there and look pretty while I go back to our little game, cheating bastard,” Lucas mumbled before he closed the door and locked it.

Clancy tried to break the ties behind him, but after a good ten minutes, he gave up. However, once he tried to spit the rag out, he was successful with that. It took a little bit of work, but when it fell out of his mouth and smacked onto the ground, he gagged a bit before he sighed in defeat.

Apparently cheating the system was a no-go.


	12. Fire Meet Gasoline

Clancy stayed pretty stationary. He saw a clock on a dresser nearby, but every time he looked over at it, it read 10:15. He used his eyes to briefly scan the room from the bed. He looked at the dresser, the nightstand, the vanity nearby, some pictures, scattered notes, and a shotgun that was propped against the window. It was odd because the window didn’t show him outside. Instead, it showed him the pool table and bar area in the other room.

He kept his eyes glued onto that shotgun. He anxious laid there then stirred, attempting to sit up at the very least. His body ached from being body slammed, but despite this, he shifted onto his back then forced himself to up. Once Clancy was sat up, he tiredly slumped forward a bit and kept his eyes fixated on that firearm. He already knew that he couldn’t get it. His hands were still tied back and as far as he knew, it could be a trap of some sort. There was no way in hell that Lucas didn’t see it there.

Clancy anxiously licked his lips then swung his legs over the side of the bed. His sneakers touched the ground and once they were flat on the floor, he pushed himself up off the bed. There was a good ten feet between him and the gun. He noticed and went to take a step forward, but the floorboard snapped beneath him. Once it crackled, he practically threw himself back in bed out of fear. He was practically trained to be scared of the noises he created because of damn Marguerite. Speaking of which, she came to check on him after a bit. Apparently Lucas advised her to keep an eye on him until he could come reclaim him.

When she unlocked the door and stepped in, she looked at him. Clancy couldn’t see how rough he looked, but it had to be pretty interesting since Marguerite almost looked sympathetic. She picked up the rag from off the ground then tried to clean up his face a bit. She didn’t say anything, but it was clear that her and the rest of them were somewhat impressed with the fact that he lasted this long. Hell, Andre didn’t last a full five minutes before he was killed. Clancy lasted for- well, God only knew. He could only assume that it’d been a few days at the very least.

Clancy didn’t want to ask, mainly because he was scared that Marguerite would lash out at him, but he had to know.

”What day is it?..” he asked as she wiped some sweat beads from off his forehead.

”June something,” she said. She didn’t know what day it was either.

”Can you tell me the time?..” he asked before he nudged his arm, referring to his watch. She hesitated, as if it were a trap, but she soon looked then started to inspect his finger that Lucas had helped him reattach.

“It’s roughly 1,” she said. It had to have been in the morning though, since he was no only exhausted, but it was also dark out, at least it was the last time he checked.

After a while, Marguerite left and Lucas came back. When he came in, he studied the other male before he walked over towards him. He didn’t talk to Clancy as he helped him back up onto his feet. Once he was planted on the ground, Lucas grabbed his arm then walked him out of the room. Clancy watched as they left the gun behind, but he took note as to where it was for the future. Lucas had a right hold of Clancy’s arm. Since he had a t-shirt on, there was no cloth protecting Clancy’s skin. Lucas’ fingers were latched on and around his arm hard enough to pierce his skin. Clancy could feel the stinging sensation growing as his tissue was exposed, but he refused to say anything. If he did, he feared that Lucas would have dug in deeper.

Once again, Lucas walked him towards the other facility. Clearly this was going to be held in the same area as before. When they finally arrived and Clancy was released, he grabbed the candle once more and walked into the room where the cake used to be. When the lights flickered on, the only difference that Clancy noticed was that there was no pre-lit candles. He had the one in his hand that had to be lit another way. This time, Lucas didn’t give him the objective, assuming that he knew what he had to do already.

After he looked around, Clancy walked over towards the animatronic behind the table. It was freaky, or at least he thought so. His nose scrunched but once he noticed the missing parts, his face softened a bit. Maybe he had to get that up and running again. He scanned the metal figure up and down then after a bit, he started to venture off to find the pieces.

Lucas was watching the other male through a few video cameras that were set up throughout the rooms. He had more than one that he could flip through. Right now, he was slumped in a swivel chair but kept his eyes on the screen. He watched as Clancy stuck his hand in the sewage filled toilet then pulled out the small telescope that laid inside. He heard Clancy mumble and utter profane from how disgusting it was, but he grinned a bit to himself. Clancy was his little lab rat and he was always entertained by whatever he did at this point.

The cameraman cleaned the telescope under the water that sprinkled and splattered all over him. He walked around the room with it up to his eye, but he couldn’t figure out what he needed it for, at least not right away. Once he saw the passcode plastered on the wall, he put the combination in on the lockbox then opened it, revealing a doll on a stick. It was made out of twigs, sticks, and dead grass. Once he saw the yellow sticky note on it, labeling this doll as ‘you’, he sighed then went to the stove top to burn it.

Lucas watched as the male found the dummy’s finger. He watched as he put it in place then went into another room. This was when he started to question whether Clancy was smart or dumb.

Clancy, in the room over, found the yellow deflated balloon that was buried under several grey, air-filled ones. He grabbed it then went over to get it filled, hoping that something useful was in it. He felt some stuff inside, but couldn’t get them out. He watched it fill and as it did so, he took a few steps back. When it popped, he threw his hands over his face. Luckily, he did this. When he looked at his hands, there was a rusty nail that pierced through his skin and came out the other side of his hand. When Clancy went to pull it out, he shakily did so as he whimpered and grunted in pain. He tossed it in a corner so he didn’t step on it later on, but when he looked down, he saw the blue quill sticking out of him. He sighed shakily then pulled that out as well, noticing the pen tip as he ripped it out of his skin.

Lucas watched this all and he shook his head. Yup, he was dumb.

Clancy eventually pieced together the dummy finger and the blue writing quill. Now, he had to go find a crank of some sort to operate the damn thing. He wandered over towards the other room and noticed the other combination. It read ‘HAPPY’, but that clearly wasn’t the right code. Thus, he got out of the room once more then went to find the crank again.

Lucas watched and was within inches from the screen. He watched with anticipation was he saw Clancy catch sight of the crank. He saw his hesitation, but when he saw him pluck the item from the barrel, he grinned as he watched the liquid slowly fill the room. Lucas already won.

Clancy put the item in the machine before he twisted it with his fingertips. He got two good turns it before the damn thing grabbed his wrist. Clancy jumped when it held on, mainly because he didn’t expect it.

”What the fuck-“ he started before he saw it raise the quill.

”Wait wait- what the fuck are you doing?!” He yelled, not expecting it to answer. It merely laughed at him, already knowing his fate. It’s hand raised up then slammed down on Clancy’s wrist, engraving something into his skin. The quill pierced through his skin and dragged through his flesh. Clancy screamed in pain and tried to pull away, but this only forced the quill to drag further down his arm. When it finally let go, Clancy threw his arm back and held on for dear life. His vision was blurry from the tears that welled up, but once he was done, he looked down and saw the words that read across his forearm. LOSER.

Lucas watched as the male wandered back over to the code on the door. Clancy put the passcode in then opened the door. He was still shaken up from the incident, but he was fine nonetheless.

Clancy grabbed the valve then walked back over to the room where the cake and barrel was. The liquid had spread throughout the room by now, but he didn’t think anything of it.

Lucas realized that Clancy was so close to finishing. He tensed up in his seat a bit and his nose was practically pressed against the screen. He was so excited to see it. He watched as Clancy finally walked over with the damn candle. Lucas added something. The cake had nothing special last time. This time, he had a little surprise for the other male.

Once Clancy put the candle on the cake with a sigh in relief, Lucas grinned to himself. Once the cake exploded in Clancy’s face, he hit the ground and looked around, expecting something. Was that it? Just an exploding cake? He did what he was supposed to. As he sat there, Clancy watched as the flames started to spread. His body tensed up and once he saw the flames drawling near, he forced himself up on his feet as he started to panic quietly. Well, it started out quietly, but it soon grew hectic.

The flames practically swallowed him up and spread up his body. It started from his shoes, but eventually trailed up his jeans and chest. He could already smell the burning flesh that wafted off of him. He could feel his jeans clinging onto his burning legs and could feel his skin bubbling.

”Fuck! Fuck!” Clancy screamed as he panicked, “Fuck! Oh man! Fuck!”

He was running around, trying to figure out what to do. He couldn’t think clearly. He wan d to, but he couldn’t. It hurt, but Clancy ran over to a corner of the room and smacked on the wall. There was a hole that he noticed earlier and he tried to rip through the dry wall while he could, even if he died doing so.

Clancy was practically suffocating on the smoke after a while. He choked on the fumes and once he couldn’t take it anymore, he smacked against the ground. He flopped against the dry wall and slid down on the floor. Clancy was fighting to keep his eyes open. His nostrils and throat were filled with smoke, and they traveled down his lungs. He was wheezing for air and tried to keep his eyes open, but his eyelids eventually won the fight. Clancy didn’t remember much, but before he closed his eyes, he heard something. He could feel thumping through the wall, as if somebody was trying to get in from the other side. He couldn’t quite make it out, but he could hear somebody talking, practically yelling from the other side.

”Hold on, city boy. I’m coming!” was the last thing he heard before Clancy gave in, slumping against the wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notice that it’s not a completed work?....


	13. Bring Me Back to Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This really short and I haven't proof read it so... yeah. I'm tired so I'm just posting what I have right now.

When Lucas demolished that wall, he noticed the other male. The room was so smoggy that when he went to take a deep breath in, he damn near choked on the smoke that he took in, not the mention the various fumes that radiated. Lucas made his way over towards the male and when he did, he got down on his knees to inspect him. The first thing he did was determine whether he was dead or not, but luck for him, Clancy was still breathing, but not much. He noticed the charred skin, the clothing that clung onto his body, the faint wheeze, and the smoggy smoke that seemed to cake the other male's skin. After he mumbled some profane, he tried to help the other male up off the floor.

Clancy thought he was dead. He was so sure that the darkness that swallowed him was the transition between life and death. Well, he thought so until he felt hands under his arms. His skin was tender and when he basically got picked up, he yelped in pain before he peeked his eyes open, or at least tried to. He tried to look around through slit eyelids, but he closed his eyes once more as he slipped out of consciousness.

Lucas noticed that the other at least responded to the movement, which was great, but he hoped that he stayed unconscious for a while, at least until he could get him to their next location. He wasn't the best at this sorta thing, mainly because this was the first time he had a situation like this, but he was practically dragging Clancy down the hallway. Instead of taking him out through the metal doors, he dragged him through the broken wall. From there, he brought him to a little shack by the docks. The Bakers had a boat that was parked over along the bayou. Just beyond that, they had a little boathouse just past it. There was a garage-like hole under the building itself where the boat usually went. Above that, they had a shack-like facility. Years ago, they would usually linger around there during the summers. The whole place was made out of wood, which was pretty rotted by now, but could still sustain itself. since nobody really used it anymore, Lucas would linger there whenever he wanted to work away from his desk. Although this place was close to the bayou, it was still relatively close to the house itself. 

Clancy didn't remember getting there but when he woke up once more, he scanned the area quietly, or he at least tried to. When he was up, he noticed that they were in a new location. The bayou reeked, but nonetheless, the air was breathable. When he looked around, he noticed that he was laying down on something, and only because he had to bend his neck in order to see the rooms entirety. He noticed the two lanterns in the room. One was on a nightstand beside him and the other was with Lucas, who was across the room. This place wasn't as nice as the inside of the main house, but it was somehow nicer than the guest house. He noticed a table nearby, he saw some chairs to match them, a little bar-like area like inside the main house, some appliances that were scattered about, some utensils, and that was all he saw before he had a coughing fit. He could practically feel the smoke blowing out between his lips with every cough. He couldn't really hear it, but apparently it was bad enough to get Lucas' attention. The other male walked over and helped the other male up before he gave him a cup, which he assumed to be more well water. Clancy tried to push it away with his hand, but Lucas forced it towards his lips.

"Oh stop, just drink it. You sound like you're dying," Lucas said before the other male grunted at him. He tried to clear his throat before he took a swig from the cup. He let the water swish around his mouth before he swallowed it thickly. Once Clancy drank a decent amount, he pushed it away from him again before Lucas set it on the nightstand by him. Clancy just sat there. He felt numb, but he was clearly confused and in pain. It was obvious that Lucas intended for him to burn alive, but he stopped it for some reason. He knew that he should be dead already, but here he was. Luckily Lucas made him hydrate, but he felt terrible. He could barely breathe, his body was in immense pain, he felt sick, his skin was burning up (it literally was earlier), and he didn't know what to do. All he could do was lay there and accept that things had changed.

Clancy tried to lay back once more, but Lucas stopped him. Well, he felt Lucas' hand behind his head and figured that he should stay sat up. However, when he went to do so, Lucas made a face then eventually helped the male lay his head back down. All of this confused Clancy to say the least, but he didn't ask, not yet. Lucas was clearly trying to help and Clancy didn't want him to stop, at least not yet. Once he was done, Lucas placed the back of his hand against the other males forehead. Clancy, without meaning to, practically leaned into his cold touch before he closed his eyes once more. He already saw the burns that trailed up his arms. Since the fire started from the ground up, he already knew that his legs probably got the worst of it. Hell, he already knew that his skin practically melted against the fabric. He felt it, like how cheese melts over a burger when the patty is fresh off the grill. Since this was the case, it was most likely going to be a pain in the ass to try and change. That is, if he were able to.

"You stay here and I'll be back, don't go anywhere," Lucas said before he got up. When he moved his hand, Clancy unintentionally grunted, but didn't stir. Lucas eventually left and once Clancy was alone once more, he quietly listened to the bugs that eventually lulled him back to sleep. When he woke up later, he was digging through a bag. Lucas had snuck into Zoe's trailer and took some items, but he didn't mention any of this to the other male. Clancy squinted at him and tried to see what all he brought, but he could only make out so many items. For instance, some of which included some purified water bottles, some cans, something that looked like an ice pack, and a wad of cloth, which he could only assume to be a change of clothes. When Lucas noticed that he was up, he walked over then tossed the wad onto the other males' abdomen.

"Here," Lucas started before he pointed towards a door that was barely in view, "go through that door. Go try to clean yourself up, because I'm not going to."

Clancy went to speak, but nothing came, Instead, a raspy little whistle seemed to squeak through his parted lips. It was the only sound he could really make right now. Lucas looked at him with a scrunched face before he helped the male up once more. He led Clancy to the bathroom then closed the door behind him, leaving him be. It was weird because electricity still ran out here. The water ran when Clancy turned on the shower head, the lights worked fine, yet they were so insistent on using lanterns. Nonetheless, once the lights were on and he stepped in front of the mirror above the sink, he merely froze. He saw it all. His pasty pale skin was a pinkish color, especially on his neck and face. As he trailed down, his torso, arms, and shoulders were a dark red. He noticed the little blisters that started to appear on the backs of his hands and saw the charred skin that started to stretch across his waist. Clancy didn't want to, but he had to try and peel the jeans off his skin. He tried, but it wouldn't budge without ripping skin. Well, after he figured this, he simply slid under the cold water that pounded against his skin and tried to take them off with the help of this. His dark curls trailed down his neck and laid over his forehead like a veil as the water soaked into his locks. Furthermore, the water started to trickle down and clean out the burns, or at least tried to.


	14. Way Down 'til the Fire Finally Dies Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, today is Friday. This chapter is pretty hefty, but this is because I know I'm not updating this story for a little while. The earliest I can update this is on Wednesday (March 19th I think) because I have a shit ton of school work due by Tuesday so.... yeah. Hope y'all enjoy this until I can update this again!!

Despite the cold water that pounded against his body, he could still feel the fire that coursed through his body. Whenever he closed his eyes to let the water trickle down his face and seep through his hair, he could still see the flames that swallow him. Hell, he could still feel the flames burning his skin, forcing the tissue to bubble and his blood to boil just beneath it. His veins would sting in agony as he felt his skin melt off his body. Although it didn't it sure as hell felt like it did. Instead of it falling off, it seemed to have crisped. His skin was tough. His flesh was charred, rough, restricting, and it _hurt_.

He wanted to enjoy the cool water as it washed over him. He really did, but every now and then, it would ping against a fresh patch of exposed tissue and he'd crumble to the pain. His body would stiffen with every blow to the nerve and he'd choke down a grunt or wince in agony. All he could do was sit there and let it happen. Although the water hurt his now fragile skin, or what was left of it, he practically melted to the cold. Clancy , although he couldn't prove it, could still feel his blood boiling just beneath the layers of singed skin. The cold water was somewhat refreshing, but the combination started to force his body to tense, especially since he could feel a bout of nausea slowly but surely creeping up on him.

He tried to fight this of course. He tried to choke down the stomach acid that crept up his throat. His throat was as dry as the desert, or at least he thought so. It was hard to talk or even swallow. Every time he tried to swallow a mouthful of saliva, he would try to choke it down through the dry pipe that he called his throat. As the acid rose and fell through, he would keep his lips closed and pray for the best, hoping that it wasn't going to surpass his uvula. Once he was able to, he parted his lips and allowed the water to trickle down his throat with each hard swallow. He was hoping that this would calm his stomach a bit, at least enough to finish up and get out of there.

After a while, Clancy stepped out shakily and kept a hand on the wall. Once his feet were planted and he steadily moved his hand off the wooden planks, he observed what Lucas gave him to wear. He squinted at the shades of greys and whites, or dirty whites, before he pulled them closer towards him. IAs he held the pieces of cloth up, he took note on which pieces were clearly Lucas' and which were Jacks. Of course, he went to dry off, but he wasn't provided anything to do it with. He would have used the remains of his jeans, but they were a rougher texture. Not to mention that they were caked in soot and if he rubbed it on his body, it would forced his skin to appear charred once more. Thus, he tried to put his clothes on without frying. This forced the pieces of cloth to cling to his body with every movement, forcing skin to tear and sear in pain, but he refused to wince or grunt in pain.

Once he stepped out, he had whatever he could salvage from his jeans in his hands along with his ripped up cap. He had his hands flexed under the remains of his attire while he wore whatever Lucas gave him, which consisted of a white (well, it used to be) undershirt with a pair of sweatpants (again, they were a smoky grey, but they were caked in dirt, dried blood, and chipped paint splatters). The soot that caked his body like icing on a cake was mostly gone, but it seemed to rub off onto the shirt. Lucas gave him an old zip up as well, but Clancy had it draped over his shoulder in case he wanted to use it later. When he stepped out, he saw the other male. Clancy went to speak up or try to get his attention, but he stopped when he saw what he was doing. The space wasn't that big. Thus, from the doorway, Clancy could clearly see the door, the "bedroom" that consisted of a bed and a nightstand, and the kitchen. It looked like they turned what could have been a living room into a "spare" room. Thus, when he saw Lucas, he saw that the other male was working on something as he leaned against the counter. He could hear him muttering to himself, but he couldn't quite make it out. Clancy started to trudge towards him, but stopped when he heard the clanking of glass or metal, like if a metal spoon was smacking around in a ceramic bowl.

As he veered closer, his stomach lunged before it twisted inside him, reminding him that the tank was practically empty. When Clancy felt this, he choked down a grunt, but Lucas turned around when he could feel the other lurking behind him. He scanned the male up and down then pointed back over towards the bed across the room, advising him to get back over there.

"Put your things over there, city boy," he said neutrally. Clancy simply nodded then did as he was told. He tossed his things at the end of the bed then eased himself down on the mattress with the help of the nightstand just nearby. It wasn't that he couldn't just sit down, but his skin was so tender that it genuinely hurt whenever he moved, even in the slightest. Thus, every time he moved, he would slowly but surely shift himself. Clancy sat there quietly then out of curiosity, he lifted his face to see what Lucas was doing. He could see that he was working on something, but didn't quite know what it was. He saw the glass from earlier. He saw it at the edge of the counter top and saw that the other male refilled it when he was freshening up. He looked at the glass then unconsciously licked his bottom lip before he saw the glass move. He didn't realize that he started to zone out before Lucas moved it.

Lucas put it on a metal tray, like the one that Marguerite had when she tried to give Clancy that- _stuff_. When he saw the metal sheet that Lucas was bringing to him, he sat up a bit and tried to hold his breath. God only knew what Lucas had in that ceramic dish. When the other male came over, he set it down on the table before he walked over. Clancy noted that he didn't set it on the nightstand beside him, but he didn't say anything about it.

"How do they fit?" Lucas asked.

"Hmm?.." Clancy asked, which resorted to another minor coughing fit. This forced the other male to give him the glass, which Clancy gladly took and started to chug. When he got about halfway, his swallows slowed before he eased the cup away from his lips. He held the cold glass with both hands and let the condensation soak into his palms. When Clancy could finally breathe again, Lucas spoke up once more to clarify his previously question.

"What you're wearing, how do they fit?"

This, of course, forced Clancy to look down once more. It was clear that the shirt was Jacks because- last he checked, Lucas only wandered around in a damn zip up, jeans, and sneakers. That was all. Not to mention that he'd seen Jack in one a little too similar to this one. Now, the zip up that Clancy was given, was clearly Lucas'. It was a mere replica of the one that the other male was currently wearing. He couldn't quite see Jack in sweats, so he assumed that those were Lucas' as well. Well, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Lucas liked to wear slouchy clothes. Since this was the case, he could only assume that this was why his clothes fit so nicely. They didn't smell the best, but they were alright. Clancy's, before he arrived, smelled like clean linen, lingering cologne, and that natural musk he always had.

"They're fine..." Clancy finally squeaked out hoarsely. When he realized what he sounded like, he cleared his throat at an attempt to fix it, which forced a grin to spread across Lucas' face. However, this grin wasn't as menacing. It seemed like Lucas was- he didn't know.

"I bet they smell better," Lucas started, "I didn't want to say anything, but you started to smell after a while"

Clancy kind of scowled at him before he slumped back. How did this conversation turn into more backlash towards him?

"Thanks..." he mumbled, clearly annoyed as he leaned back against the wall.

"Oh come on, city boy. Don't be like that," Lucas started. "Look, I even brought you something."

"And what's that?.."

"This," Lucas said, pointing back over to the tray behind him.

"If it's something your mom made, I'll pass..." Clancy mumbled.

"Oh, no, it's not something she made," he admitted, "she'd probably kill me if she knew I gave you this instead of what she makes."

Of course, when Lucas said this, Clancy looked at him with a scrunched nose. God only knew what Lucas brought for him. He wanted to know, but he was almost nervous to ask. With his luck, it'd be something putrid. Better yet, it'd be something substantial or decent, but Lucas would force him to play another game. Thus, Clancy simply held his tongue back and kept his mouth closed as he watched Lucas. When the other male brought the tray closer, Clancy's stomach practically cartwheeled. Not from feeling nauseated or sick, but from mere excitement.

"How did- but I thought you guys-" Clancy started as he inspected the contents. He simply had to look inside the bowl to piece together what was in it. He didn't even have to look at the can or anything. He saw the red sauce that caked the inside of the bowl and pieced together the little noodles that lingered inside. Most of them sank to the bottom of the bowl, but he could still see some that barely stuck out. When the smell of warm tomato sauce and cooked pasta ran through his nostrils, he practically melted in his own skin. Oh yes, if there was one thing he missed from home, this was it. Warm, microwavable, cooked, canned meals.

"I took them from my sister's trailer. She's weird and doesn't eat mom's cooking either," he admitted. "These looked appealing so I thought you'd want these-"

"Uh huh," Clancy cut him off before he graciously stuck both hands out to hold the ceramic bowl. Seeing the mere excitement on the others face forced a little smirk on his face before he handed him the bowl. Clancy would usually feel put off by this expression, but at this point, he didn't care.

Once Lucas started to give the tray to the other male, Clancy snatched the damn bowl before the other male even set the thing down. Lucas looked at him with wide eyes, as if he didn't expect the other male to react the way he did. He watched as Clancy started to dish the noodles out with a fork. He'd seen the cameraman focus on some tough puzzles, such as their game of blackjack, but he'd never seen him more focused than he was now. Lucas sat in the chair across the room and watched as the other male scarfed down everything in the bowl. Hell, after all the noodles were gone, Clancy continued to eat the damn sauce. It was very clear that he wasn't going to let anything go to waste. Once the other male was done, he gently put the utensils and ceramic bowl on the tray before he wiped his face. Lucas watched him then eased on over. Once he took the tray back, he took note that the other male seemed to really enjoy this little treat he was given.

"Geez," Lucas finally said, "you nearly licked the damn thing clean!"

"Try being overworked for days on end without being able to eat anything, then you can make a comment like that.." Clancy mumbled.

"Fair enough..." Lucas mumbled as he set everything on the counter. Clancy pawed at his eyes with his fingertips then he slumped down so he was laying on his back. Of course, he didn't like laying like this so he shifted onto his side and used the zip up as a blanket. It laid over his folded arms and he looked pretty content with it on. Lucas cleaned up a bit then went towards the door before he looked back at the other, taking note on how he was using his zip up.

"Do you want anything?" Lucas asked. Clancy's back was facing him and he refused to stir.

"I want to know something..."

"What's that?"

"Why are you helping me? You had the perfect opportunity to let me die, but you didn't" Clancy reminded him.

"I don't know," Lucas admitted, "I really don't know."


End file.
